April 22nd 4:57 pm |
Val Van Brocklin
In 2020, the Alaska Criminal Justice Commission recommended a second look law providing that juveniles sentenced for crimes they committed when they were less than 18 be eligible for a parole hearing after serving 15 years. On March 29, Sen. Tom Begich introduced the recommended law as Senate Bill 114. Some context is helpful.
In the 1980s and 90s, America launched a tough-on-crime era. As a prosecutor in Alaska during those decades, I advanced it. It led to mass incarceration that overfilled our prisons. With 4.4% of the global population, America has nearly 25% of the world s prisoners - a rate four to seven times higher than other Western nations.
A modest step toward becoming more smart on crime
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A modest step toward getting smart on crime - Anchorage Daily News
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Michigan lawmakers will have advanced more than two dozen criminal justice reform bills when they close the current session this week.
Governor Whitmer created a bipartisan commission in 2019 to look at jails across the state to better understand the problem. Much of the reform effort is modeled on its recommendations.
The overhaul aim to reduce the state s jail population, which has tripled over the past 3 decades even as crime rates have fallen to a 50-year low.
Supporters spanned grassroots racial justice organizations to Amway co-chairman Doug DeVos, the brother-in-law of education secretary Betsy DeVos and a major conservative force in Michigan.