MD Corrections Inks Deal with University System, Five New CCJ Reports & More
"This historic step puts us closer to ensuring our incarcerated population can improve their lives with education."
This week, the Maryland Department of Corrections announced a new agreement with the University System of Maryland that will create a framework to bring higher education programs to every state-run prison utilizing newly reinstated federal Pell grants allowing incarcerated people to pursue bachelor’s degrees. The first-in-the-nation deal follows the passage of legislation to reshape prison education this year: one bill that establishes a prison education delivery reform commission to develop strategies to improve learning in state-run facilities, and another bill that would implement new requirements and better track educational outcomes.
"We all know somebody who can use a second chance."
With more than 50% of returning citizens have trouble finding work because of a criminal record, large companies such as JPMorgan Chase have taken the lead in calling for changes to record-sealing laws and expanding second chance hiring opportunities during “Second Chance Month” this April. They have also sponsored an art installation on Independence Mall in Philadelphia called "The Waiting Workforce" that features stacks of paper that echo the amount of time, effort and paperwork it otherwise requires for a person to clear a criminal record and have access to better employment opportunities in 38 states that do not automatically expunge criminal records.
"Not having a secure environment that is not a prison is — is problematic. And other states have dealt with the consequences of that through judicial intervention."
For decades, Idaho was detaining psychiatric patients in maximum security prison cells instead of a mental health facility. These patients were not yet convicted of a crime, and many of them have not been charged with a crime. However, Governor Little this week signed into law a bipartisan bill that allocates $25 million to construct a mental health facility for these patients. It would have 26 beds, with 16 dedicated to patients who display violent behaviors and whose mental illness is so severe that they are put into involuntary treatment by court order. This bill was signed following a ProPublica report highlighting that lawmakers have for years ignored that this practice was happening.
"Disentangling the effects of multiple simultaneous reforms and factors that occurred in these states is difficult, but it is essential to identifying the types of measures that could have a significant and replicable impact ..."
Five new reports from the Council on Criminal Justice released this week show that with minor exceptions, reforms made in recent years with the intention of addressing racial disparities in the criminal justice system had minimal impacts on trends. The reports are the latest installments in the group's Pushing Towards Parity project, which began in 2019.
"Dewonna's case in some ways exemplifies just how unfair forfeiture is. On the other hand, her case is a rarity because she actually got her car back."
This week, Reason details the story of Dewonna Goodridge, a 57-year old resident of Kansas who had her truck seized by law enforcement despite never being charged with a crime. She fought for eight months to get it back, which placed a significant strain on her and her family as she struggled to find alternative means of transportation. Kansas is currently considering reforms to its civil asset forfeiture laws, and pending cases are before the U.S. Supreme Court that could have implications on forfeiture procedures nationwide, but until then, Kansas continues to have some of the poorest protections for innocent property owners when it comes to the use of forfeiture.