The FBI's 2023 report shows a 11.6% drop in murder rates, marking the largest one-year decline ever recorded, with over 2,500 fewer victims compared to 2022. Additionally, the violent crime rate has dipped to its lowest levels since the early 1970s, with 363.8 offenses per 100,000 people, showcasing a significant decline from the peaks of the 1990's. While property crime remains stable overall, an ongoing trend in auto theft highlights ongoing opportunities for reform that addresses crime with data in mind.

It’s been one year since the passage of historic pretrial reform in Illinois, and since then, the state has shown that reform can be effective without compromising safety or court compliance. Illinois’ groundbreaking Pretrial Fairness Act slashed jail populations by 14% in Cook County (Chicago) and up to 25% in rural areas, marking a seismic shift in the state’s criminal justice system. The elimination of cash bail saved $6.7 million in avoided bond costs, while failure-to-appear rates and crime levels have held steady, dispelling fears of public safety risks.

The Bureau of Justice Statistics released its annual National Crime Victimization Survey yesterday, which estimates violent crime victimizations and rates, and violent crimes reported and not reported to police. According to the survey, violent crime declined slightly in 2023. On his substack today, Jeff Asher delves deeper into the report.

This week

The Atlantic

At what point does a person involved with the justice system lose the right to their own DNA? In 30 states, according to a 2013 Supreme Court decision, that point is post-arrest, not post-conviction. Today, the majority of states store sensitive genetic information from people that have not been convicted of a crime and make it available for search, threatening privacy, inviting potential misuse, and highlighting yet another place where the justice system has built in tension between efficiency and civil liberties. 

Since 2022, at least eight Texas counties have struggled to properly house people held in their jails, and have instead spent millions in tax dollars transporting these individuals—many of whom have yet to stand trial and are legally considered innocent—to be housed in jails in other states, a Texas Tribune article highlights this week. The death of one Harris County man who was transferred to a Louisiana jail while he awaited trial is bringing new scrutiny to an expensive and wasteful strategy for dealing with high levels of incarceration. 

As Minnesota Governor Tim Walz takes center stage as the democratic nominee for Vice President, his record on criminal justice issues is coming into focus. The Marshall Project took a look at five areas where the Governor has made progress for the Land of 10,000 Lakes, including a law that made caps on probation retroactive in a state that had previously imposed some of the longest probationary periods in the nation.

Federal Bureau of Prisons Director Colette Peters testified in front of Congress for the first time since the passage of the Federal Prison Oversight Act, which President Biden signed into law this week. Appearing in front of the House Judiciary Committee, Peters said there is an urgent need for 3,000 more correctional officers and medical staff to address critical shortages. Peters said she welcomed the new oversight law, which establishes an independent ombudsman to investigate complaints and regularly conduct inspections of all 122 federal prison facilities, noting that persistent staffing shortages have led to unsafe conditions, overcrowding, poor mental health outcomes for corrections officers, and a budget crisis.

Incarcerated people at the Central California Women’s Facility endure life-threatening conditions as temperatures soar to 110 degrees, leading to a spike in heat-related deaths, including. recent tragedy on July 4th. Despite these dangers, ineffective cooling measures and inadequate responses from prison staff put vulnerable prisoners, particularly those over 55, at increased risk. Advocacy groups and incarcerated persons report severe health impacts and insufficient mitigation efforts calling for urgent reforms to prevent more fatalities in these “summer broilers.”

A new report, released Wednesday by the Justice Action Network, highlights dozens of public safety policies that are broadly supported by Americans on both sides of the aisle. The guide includes data-driven solutions to some of the issues voters care about most in the criminal justice system, including preventing and solving crime, evidence-based sentencing reforms, and options for increasing prison oversight and effectiveness, reducing barriers to reentry, and reducing collateral consequences of incarceration.

If approved next month, a new rule proposed by the FCC would significantly lower costs for phone calls correctional facilities, where incarcerated people and their families are often charged exorbitant rates. The move comes following the passage of the Martha Reed-Wright Just and Reasonable Communications Act of 2022, which empowered the FCC to regulate communications from correctional facilities.

Three state supreme courts will take up the constitutionality of sentencing people convicted of felony murder with life without parole in coming months. Cases in Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Colorado vary on their arguments and the details of the cases on which they hinge, but all ask justices the same overarching question: is a life sentence cruel and unusual punishment when a defendant not only didn't intend death to occur by their conduct, but may not have even been present when it did?

Governor Josh Shapiro held a press conference and ceremonial bill signing on the effective date of Pennsylvania's newest Clean Slate iteration this week. Expanding Pennsylvania's record-sealing initiative to include low-level, non-violent drug felonies, the new law once again makes Pennsylvania a national leader in automated expungement policy. The Governor was joined by legislative leaders, the Pennsylvania business community, and advocates, including the Justice Action Network.

Daniel Brown has been a model citizen since his early release from federal prison. Still, he faces another six years of stringent supervised release that hinders his personal and professional life despite four years of perfect compliance. He's just one of more than 124,000 people under monitor by an overburdened federal system that costs taxpayers $500 million annually. With 82% of federal offenders sentenced to supervision and two-thirds of revocations stemming from minor violations, the Safer Supervision Act could bring relief to people who have turned their life around and result in significant savings for taxpayers.

Seventeen survivors of sexual violence at the hands of Bureau of Prisons (BOP) staff have been granted compassionate release by judges across the country, but in the wake of the abrupt closure of Federal Correctional Institution Dublin in Northern California, Families Against Mandatory Minimums Deputy General Council Shanna Rifkin worries there are countless others who simply cannot be identified and helped by outside advocates. While advocates and legal experts have limited access to identifying information about victims who are eligible for release under BOP rules as a result of abuse they've endured, the department itself has unfettered access and should be proactively helping identify and release the women suffering inside.

The U.S. House passed the Federal Prison Oversight Act 392-2 this week. The bill introduced by Reps. Lucy McBath (D–Ga.) and Kelly Armstrong (R–N.D.) would require the Department of Justice's inspector general to conduct detailed inspections Bureau of Prisons (BOP) facilities and create an independent Justice Department ombudsman to investigate complaints from inmates and staff. The vote comes amid ongoing reports of chronic understaffing, crumbling facilities, and scandal in the nation's federal prisons. Advocates are now turning their attention to a companion bill in the Senate with hope that upper chamber passage will be possible prior to August.

The DEA formally announced its intention to reschedule marijuana Thursday. The Biden administration effort is likely to be popular among young voters even as some advocates have pointed out it's an incremental step. In fact, the question for most experts familiar with the issue is not whether young voters support the pending rule, but whether or not they care enough to make it part of their decision at the polls this fall.

Regardless of the length of an individual's sentence, the policies that dictate when and how they may be released from prison can significantly impact not just their chances at successful re-entry but also the ways they interact with others while behind bars. A recent look back at Arizona's 1994 Truth-In-Sentencing (TIS) law found that people sentenced under TIS racked up more violent disciplinary infractions, engaged in fewer programs while incarcerated, were much more likely to reoffend, and were 23% more likely to return to prison within three years.

A leak from multiple sources inside the DEA this week, confirmed that the agency is poised to reclassify marijuana from Schedule I to Schedule III. The move marks a historic shift in U.S. drug policy, even as some advocates have pointed out that more could be done.

During the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic, the death toll among incarcerated individuals in the U.S. skyrocketed at a rate over three times higher than the general population, according to a new study. The numbers, thought to be the most comprehensive review of state and federal-level prison data to date, paint a grim picture of the pandemic's impact behind bars. Older prisoners bared the brunt of the crisis and experienced a disproportionate rise in deaths.