Date: 01-16-2019
Topics include sentencing, felony disenfranchisement, juvenile justice,
addressing racial disparity, and more |
From Marc Maurer of The Sentencing Project:
Last year, formerly incarcerated activists, lawmakers, and advocates worked to challenge mass incarceration. In Top Trends in State Criminal Justice Reform, 2018, Nicole D. Porter highlights key changes in criminal justice policy achieved in 2018.
Highlights include:
Sentencing: California lawmakers eliminated life without parole for persons convicted of felony murder or a homicide offense in which they were not the actual killer.
Felony Disenfranchisement: Voters in Florida approved a constitutional change expanding the vote to as many as 1.4 million residents with a felony conviction who have completed their sentence; persons with homicide and sex offense convictions are excluded.
Juvenile Justice: Missouri lawmakers raised the age at which young defendants are automatically charged as adults from 17 to 18.
Addressing Racial Disparity: Florida lawmakers established a databank to collect and publicly report criminal justice demographic information. Officials are required to report information on arrest, bail proceedings, and sentencing.
The full briefing paper, which includes details on the authorized legislation, can be found here.
Please be in touch with Nicole Porter, The Sentencing Project's Director of Advocacy, at nporter@sentencingproject.org to learn more and to discuss how we can support your efforts in state policy reform.
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