HISTORIC DAY IN JUSTICE REFORM: FEDERAL GOVERNMENT ANNOUNCES $700 MILLION TO STATES & LOCALITIES TO REDUCE INCARCERATION

Announcement Marks A Step Toward Reversing 1994 Crime Bill, Incentivizes Reducing Incarceration 

Guidance Follows JAN Task Force Recommendations, Provides Much-Needed Relief State and Local Governments That Are Safely Reducing Prison and Jail Populations

(Washington, DC) – Today, the White House announced the release of Detection & Mitigation of COVID in Confinement Facilities Guidance steering more than $700 million to state and local governments nationwide to stop the spread of COVID-19 in the justice system. American Rescue Plan funds can now be spent to reduce prison and jail populations as one use, marking the first time the federal government has provided dollars to states to reduce prison populations. 

Today’s guidance from the Biden Administration incorporates recommendations made by Justice Action Network’s COVID-19 Emergency Justice Task Force, a group of justice system stakeholders representing fifteen states across the country convened last year. 

“This announcement makes history, marking the first time the federal government is providing money to state and local governments to safely reduce incarceration. For decades, Washington sent federal dollars to states and localities to incentivize more incarceration, often with no corresponding public safety rationale. Today’s announcement is a big step in unwinding the legacy and damage of laws like the 1994 Crime Bill that helped drive our country’s mass incarceration crisis,” said Justice Action Network Federal Director Inimai Chettiar.. 

“Today’s announcement by the White House is welcome news for state and local governments and provides much-needed relief for governments long ignored by Washington. These critical dollars will help states and counties safely reduce their incarcerated populations, providing them with the flexibility to determine how best to do so while protecting public safety.  

“We’d like to thank all of those who helped bring about this historic moment, including President Biden, Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Dick Durbin, Senate HELP Committee Chair Patty Murray, Senators Cory Booker and Elizabeth Warren, House Energy & Commerce Committee Chair Frank Pallone, and White House Coronavirus Response Coordinator Jeff Zients. We are also grateful for the work of the members of our bipartisan COVID-19 Emergency Justice Task Force, justice system stakeholders from across the country who came together to provide policy recommendations echoed in today’s announcement. Their first-hand experiences on the front lines of the COVID-19 pandemic helped shape today’s guidance and will help state and local justice systems better respond to the growing threat of the delta variant.”

More information about Justice Action Network’s COVID-19 Emergency Task Force, including a recommendations and a full list of members, is available here: www.justiceactionnetwork.org/task-force