This week, the Louisiana legislature is meeting for a special session on crime, and is on the verge of rolling back significant reforms to its criminal justice system that first passed in 2017. Lawmakers and Governor Landry have blamed them on a rise in crime despite data to the contrary.

On February 8, newly-elected Governor Jeff Landry issued a proclamation for a highly-anticipated special session on crime that included twenty-five policy priorities. The 38 bills that resulted from the call could have disastrous fiscal, safety, and longterm economic effects on the Pelican State without improving public safety.

A new report from the Department of Justice (DOJ) inspector general exposed a distressing reality around inmate deaths within federal prisons, noting that 344 inmates in federal prison having died from suicide, homicide or accidents over an eight-year period. More than half of those deaths—187—were suicides. The investigation reveals systemic failures in mental health care and suicide prevention protocols, finding that most non-medical deaths in federal facilities could have been prevented.

Justice Action Network released the following statement in response to a Thursday report by the Department of Justice that revealed most non-medical deaths in custody could have been prevented:

“The report released today by the Department of Justice is an urgent call to action. No family should ever have to receive a call that a loved one has died while incarcerated simply because a facility was understaffed, under-resourced or out of compliance with BOP policy,” said Inimai Chettiar, Deputy Director for the Justice Action Network “There is strong bipartisan support for comprehensive oversight of our nation’s prisons, and it is long past time for congress to enact the kind of transparency and accountability that will prevent deaths like these in the future.

Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt spoke out against the controversial practice of civil asset forfeiture during his 2024 State of the State address, acknowledging its inherent unfairness and calling for comprehensive reforms. Stitt's stance adds momentum to the growing movement against this widely criticized practice, which allows law enforcement to seize property from individuals, often without criminal charges or due process.

“We applaud Governor Stitt for acknowledging that creating safe communities requires a dual approach of advancing public safety policies and facilitating individuals’ progression out of incarceration cycles,” said Lauren Krisai, Deputy Director at JAN. “We appreciate the Governor's ongoing commitment to modernizing all aspects of the justice system, and mentioning the need for a modernized approach to fines and fees as well as more transparency and accountability around civil asset forfeiture.

Housing over 157,000 inmates at an annual cost exceeding $8 billion, the US federal prison system is facing increased scrutiny as its level of understaffing becomes potentially dangerous and a disturbing pattern of abuse at women's prisons has unfolded in the public eye. CBS’ 60 Minutes sat down with Colette Peters to talk about her culpability in the abuses, her efforts to right the plagued agency, and where federal incarceration goes from here.

The proposed amendments are under consideration as more than 150,000 people are currently serving sentences in the custody of the Bureau of Prisons, an agency that is chronically understaffed and struggling to manage the safety of staff and incarcerated people. It is imperative that the Commission consider amendments to the Guidelines that consider this backdrop…

Five years after the federal First Step Act reshaped America's criminal justice landscape, U.S. Senator Durbin and First Step Act beneficiary Matthew Charles joined forces to defend its success and advocate for continued policy progress on its five year anniversary. The Act's impact on reducing recidivism, federal prison overcrowding, and unfair sentencing practices was on clear display during last week's Senate hearing on the law.

President Biden’s 2020 campaign website included an extensive section on criminal justice reform. Four years later, the site has been scrubbed and journalist Max Burns faced a wall of silence from democrat lawmakers and national criminal justice organizations while researching a column on what happened to Democrats’ justice reform priorities since the last election.

“The only hesitancy we’re seeing is from inside-the-beltway politicians who aren’t in touch with what their voters want,” Justice Action Network Executive Director Jenna Bottler told me. “If the president wants to rejoin the criminal justice conversation, it’s simple: listen to the voters who are smarter than election-year soundbites.”

The U.S. is facing a dire shortage of affordable and timely addiction treatment centers for adolescents amidst a worrying uptick in overdose deaths within this age group, according to a study led by Oregon Health & Science University. With nearly half of the facilities requiring upfront costs of about $26,000 for a one-month stay, and wait times averaging nearly a month, vulnerable youth are left without accessible care.

In one of the few major cities in the nation experiencing an uptick in violent crime, Washington, D.C. leaders are split on the policy changes that could address the nation's fourth highest homicide rate as well as a spate of car jackings that have left residents unnerved. For some, the progressive policing changes that saw significant support in D.C. in the past are no longer an option, and Mayor Bowser says the pendulum is swinging back to a bipartisan middle.

This year proved to be a rollercoaster year for advocates concerned with preserving CARES Act home confinement, and the thousands who have been safely living in their communities since they were released during the pandemic. Following a major spring win with a final rule from the DOJ allowing those placed in the program during the COVID pandemic to serve the remainder of their sentences on home confinement, Sen. Marsha Blackburn recently introduced a Senate resolution that threatens to send them all back to prison despite the program's overwhelming levels of success, and quickly approached the required 30 Senate co-sponsors to bring the effort straight to the floor. 

Pennsylvania, the birthplace of the first automatic “Clean Slate” expungement law in the nation, enacted legislation this week to expand eligibility for Clean Slate to low-level felonies. Governor Shapiro promptly signed the bill on Thursday, delivering a years-long goal of bipartisan sponsors, Representatives Jordan Harris (D) and Sheryl Delozier (R), and a gift to the people of Pennsylvania who will have better access to jobs and housing in the new year as a result of the law. 

The Pennsylvania General Assembly passed House Bill 689, a bill allowing the sealing of low-level, nonviolent felonies, sponsored by Representatives Jordan Harris (D-Phila.) and Sheryl Delozier (R-Cumberland), and led by Senators Lisa Baker and Anthony Williams in the Senate. The effort builds on Pennsylvania’s 2018 framework to expand automated expungements to more Pennsylvanians who have proven they can remain crime free. After a 47-3 vote in the Senate and 153-50 concurrence vote in the House, the bill now heads to Governor Shapiro’s desk for his signature.

For a dozen years, Missouri Governor Mike Parson was a rural sheriff whose job was catching and locking up citizens who broke the law. Now, Governor Parsons is the face of a slightly different sort of justice and an example for a nation grappling with a fine line between cracking down on crime and offering second chances through redemption and restoration for victims and offenders alike.

In July, the Alabama parole board voted against releasing 96% of eligible applicants. One of them was Richard Kinder, who amassed a stellar record during his roughly 40 years in prison.

Ohio lawmakers are considering a bill that would end the practice of suspending a person’s driver’s license for non-driving, non-public safety related reasons, such as unpaid parking tickets. Over 60% of the 3 million license suspensions that occur in Ohio each year are for debt-based reasons. Advocates (myself included) emphasize the bill's potential to address the disproportionate impact of license suspensions on those with financial challenges and minor infractions unrelated to dangerous driving.