From Vera Institute of Justice:
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Oct. 20, 2020
CONTACT: Abby Silverman, asilverman@sloweymcmanus.com
WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Rep. David Trone (D-MD 6th) and U.S. Rep. Kelly Armstrong (R-ND At-large District) today introduced “The Community First Pretrial Reform and Jail Decarceration Act,” to support locally-driven efforts to shrink the footprint of jails, address racial inequities in incarceration, and redirect precious taxpayer dollars to community priorities that will support families and ensure public safety. Planning and implementation grants authorized by the Community First Pretrial Reform and Jail Decarceration Act will be prioritized for rural communities with high or rising incarceration rates—places that are too often left out of the national conversation about mass incarceration.
Many of America’s smallest communities are facing a cascade of economic and social problems: job loss, deepening poverty, deteriorating physical and mental health, increased substance use, and the hollowing out of public and private institutions. High and rising jail incarceration rates are at the center of these crises. For the past four years, the number of people in our nation’s jails has been on the rise, fueled by jail growth in rural America. Since 2013, The jail population has grown 27 percent in rural counties and 7 percent in smaller cities, even as the number of people in jails in the nation's biggest cities declined by 18 percent. Rural communities have some of the worst racial disparities in incarceration, and are also driving a national increase in women’s incarceration. Continue reading >>>
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