Pennsylvania Clean Slate Video Wins Two National Awards
A longform video featuring Representative Sheryl Delozier has won two Reed Awards this week. The video was produced by Content Creative Media on behalf of the Justice Action Network (JAN) and elevates Pennsylvania’s leadership on providing second chances to returning citizens through the use of automatic expungement provisions while advocating for an expansion of the state’s existing automatic expungement framework.
Five Things This Week: Bill Bratton in Conversation with Reason, The Bipartisanship of Voting Rights for People Convicted of Felonies & More
“[Voting gives] a little bit of your strength back and a little bit of your voice back. Being able to vote, being able to have a say in what happens in your society, in your state, is extremely important.”
Five Things This Week: Oversight in Pretrial Implementation, New Report on Incarcerated Women & More
This week, Justice Action Network’s Executive Director Jenna Bottler had an op-ed published in the Albuquerque Journal. In the op-ed, Bottler argues that lawmakers need to focus on refinement of its pretrial policies after reform.
Implementation of pretrial detention tools requires oversight, accountability
It comes as no surprise New Mexicans are scrutinizing the state’s use of pretrial detention, especially following headlines from the Solomon Pena case. But while this case is driving heightened public awareness of the state’s pretrial policies, the next steps essential to protect public safety have been pending for months, if not years, before this one case.
Five Things This Week: New Tool Shines Light on Prison Deaths, The War on Drugs Failed & More
As unemployment continues to inch downwards—achieving a new historical low with seemingly every jobs report—and the economy refuses to cool off, congressional leaders are shining a fresh light on second chances hiring.
BIPARTISAN, BICAMERAL COALITION INCLUDING SENATORS BOOKER (D-NJ) AND GRAHAM (R-SC), LEADER JEFFRIES (D-NY) AND REP. ARMSTRONG (R-ND) RENEW CONGRESSIONAL EFFORT TO FIX COCAINE SENTENCING DISPARITY
EQUAL Act Would Finally Eliminate Crack vs. Powder Cocaine Sentencing Disparity That Disproportionately Impacts Black Communities, is Widely Supported by Law Eenforcement & Civil Rights Leaders
Oklahoma shows a commitment to criminal justice reforms
While some states have been doubling down on outdated “lock-’em-up” policies, elected leaders in Oklahoma have looked toward evidence-based ideas to improve correctional outcomes, reduce recidivism and improve workforce opportunities for people who have earned a second chance.
NEWS FROM CONGRESS: CREATION OF SECOND CHANCE TASK FORCE DRAWS PRAISE FROM NATION’S LARGEST BIPARTISAN CRIMINAL JUSTICE GROUP
The task force, which was created to promote policies that will improve access to employment and other opportunities for people who are reentering the community after spending time in prison or the justice system, met for the first time today to learn more about challenges the BOP has faced in maintaining successful reentry programming for the roughly 50,000 people who are released from federal prisons each year.
JUSTICE ACTION NETWORK: VIOLENT KILLING OF TYRE NICHOLS IS APPALLING, POLICYMAKERS MUST ACT
“The Justice Action Network team joins the nation this weekend in grieving the tragic loss of Tyre Nichols to incomprehensible violence at the hands of members of law enforcement in Memphis,” said executive director Jenna Bottler. “The brutality displayed by the officers who beat Tyre is appalling, immoral and inhumane. The men and women who patrol our communities are the frontline workers of America’s justice system, and it is imperative that we are able to trust them and their conduct on our streets.
Hobbs orders creation of prison oversight commission
The criminal justice reform organization Justice Action Network applauded Hobbs’ move saying, “Robust corrections oversight will bring more transparency and accountability to the way that Arizona’s prisons operate.”
NEWS: SENATE FAILURE TO INCLUDE EQUAL ACT IN OMNIBUS BILL WILL HAVE TRAGIC CONSEQUENCES
Early this morning, Congressional leaders released text of an agreed end-of-year "omnibus" spending bill to fund the federal government, and the EQUAL Act, one of the final issues on the table for inclusion, failed to make the cut. The Eliminating a Quantifiably Unjust Application of the Law Act of 2021, or EQUAL Act, would have eliminated the 18:1 federal sentencing disparity between drug offenses involving crack cocaine and powder cocaine, a relic of the War on Drugs.
LEADING ILLINOIS CIVIL RIGHTS ORGANIZATIONS CALL ON CHAIRMAN DURBIN TO INCLUDE THE EQUAL ACT IN THE NDAA
Today, leading Illinois civil rights and criminal justice organizations sent a letter to Chairman Durbin (D-IL) urging him to keep the EQUAL Act in the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which is now being negotiated. As Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee and a lead sponsor of the EQUAL Act, the Senator is uniquely positioned to advocate for this legislation. The House of Representatives has already included the EQUAL Act in its version of the NDAA.
LEADING NEW YORK CIVIL RIGHTS GROUPS CALL ON LEADER SCHUMER TO PASS THE EQUAL ACT IN THE NDAA
Today, leading New York civil rights and criminal justice organizations sent a letter to Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) urging him to keep the EQUAL Act in the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which is now being negotiated in the Senate. The House of Representatives has already included the EQUAL Act in its version of the NDAA, passed in July.
“OUR ECONOMY DEPENDS ON IT, OUR JUSTICE SYSTEM DEPENDS ON IT, OUR FUTURE DEPENDS ON IT.”
Yesterday, Democratic and Republican lawmakers joined a virtual event on the importance of second chance legislation pending in Congress—the Clean Slate and Fresh Start Acts. These bills would expand automated record sealing at the federal and state levels, giving individuals who have served their time and remained crime-free better access to employment, education, and housing.
CBS 21 News: Proposed legislation to expand PA's Clean Slate Law would give more a second chance
The House Judiciary Committee held a hearing Wednesday to discuss expansion of Pennsylvania’s Clean Slate Law. The state was the first in the nation to pass the Clean Slate Law in 2018, helping more than 1.2 million of its residents with misdemeanors.
The Center Square: Clean Slate expansion could include sealing low-level felony records
Advocates say a bipartisan effort to seal criminal records for low-level felonies would give more people second chances and boost the Pennsylvania economy.
The House Judiciary Committee held a hearing on Wednesday to discuss House Bill 1826, which would expand the Clean Slate Act by automatically sealing some low-level felonies.
NEW, BIPARTISAN CLEAN SLATE LEGISLATION EXPANDS ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITY, PROMOTES PUBLIC SAFETY
Today, Pennsylvania lawmakers from across the political spectrum announced new legislation that would expand Pennsylvania’s Clean Slate laws. House Bill 1826 and Senate Bill 1314 build upon Pennsylvania’s groundbreaking Clean Slate laws, which have given more than 1.2 million Pennsylvanians access to meaningful employment, continuing education, and stable housing.
NBC News: Thousands of federal inmates still await early release under Trump-era First Step Act
Thousands of nonviolent federal prisoners eligible for early release under a promising Trump-era law remain locked up nearly four years later because of inadequate implementation, confusion and bureaucratic delays, prisoner advocacy groups, affected inmates and former federal prison officials say.