In the early hours of this morning, the Ohio Legislature passed House Bill 315. The bill contains language that requires corrections agencies to equip incarcerated adults and youth with crucial identification documentation that will help them find employment and stable housing as they transition back into their communities.

The Ohio Legislature yesterday overwhelmingly voted to pass House Bill 29, a bipartisan initiative to eliminate barriers to Ohioans by reforming the state’s driver’s license suspension policies. The bill removes the ability to suspend driver’s licenses for failure to pay fines and fees for minor traffic infractions while maintaining enforcement mechanisms for fine and fee payment. It also retroactively reinstates licenses suspended for these debt-related reasons, which could have a hugely positive impact for Ohio’s workforce.

Justice Action Network (JAN), a national bipartisan organization dedicated to improving our criminal justice system and public safety outcomes at the state and federal levels, today praised President Joe Biden for commuting the sentences of nearly 1,500 individuals, marking the largest single-day act of clemency in modern presidential history. This historic action primarily benefits individuals who were placed on home confinement during the COVID-19 pandemic under the federal CARES Act and have demonstrated successful reintegration into their communities.

An analysis by The Appeal this week found that as many as 28,000 people were incarcerated in jails in mandatory flood zones leading up to Hurricane Milton's landfall, with many of those facilities refusing to evacuate. Just last week, 2,190 people were evacuated from five North Carolina prisons following Hurricane Helene. The evacuations came amid reports that people incarcerated at the facilities were locked in their cells with standing water and feces for days as a result of electrical and water service disruptions following the storm.

Justice Action Network (JAN) Executive Director Lauren Krisai today joined Minnesota State Auditor Julie Blaha, a bipartisan pairing of lawmakers, and a representative from the Minnesota County Attorney’s Association for a press conference at the State Capitol to unveil a report detailing how bipartisan reform legislation enacted in 2021 has driven a significant reduction in civil asset forfeiture cases in Minnesota. JAN played a key role in the drafting and passage of the 2021 compromise legislation. 

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. 

“Justice Action Network and Justice Action Network Foundation have led national bipartisan criminal justice reform efforts all over the country for nearly a decade. Our success is built on our commitment to work with anyone and everyone interested in effectuating meaningful and long-lasting change that makes our justice system fairer and improves public safety," said Lauren Krisai, “I’m honored to lead JAN and JANF as we move into our next chapter.” 

The DOJ has launched an investigation into Tennessee's Trousdale Turner Correctional Center after receiving nearly 100 complaints about rampant violence and unsafe conditions at the privately run prison, where five stabbings occurred in just three weeks this year.

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.

According to a new report, Washington keeps roughly one-third of incarcerated individuals past their expected release dates, "second look" legislation is gaining traction as a bipartisan solution to reduce overcrowding and financial strain, children with a family history of incarceration face alarmingly high risks of mental and physical health issues and more…

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?