Columbus, OH – Yesterday, the Ohio Senate unanimously approved Senate Bill 198, a measure that will require the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Corrections (ODRC) to provide eligible incarcerated Ohioans with identification and other crucial documents near the end of their term of imprisonment prior to release. Experts point to a lack of documents such as identification as a barrier to obtaining housing and employment after incarceration. When individuals leaving incarceration lack identification, they cannot fill out a job application and employers cannot process their paperwork. This bill will benefit employers and those leaving incarceration alike.

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.

Today, the Arizona Senate passed Senate Bill 1639, a bill that expands the state’s record sealing statute and access to second chances for those who have made a mistake and remained crime free for a set number of years. The bill, championed by Speaker Ben Toma, continues the state’s commitment to removing barriers to workforce participation for people with prior criminal convictions who have served their time and stayed on the right path. The bill previously passed the Arizona House with a 58-1 vote. Now headed to Governor Hobbs for her signature, the legislation streamlines the process for individuals seeking to seal their records, clarifying eligibility criteria outlined in a 2021 effort that expanded record sealing in the state.

Governor Josh Shapiro hosted a ceremonial bill signing with Lieutenant Governor Austin Davis, Majority Appropriations Chairman Jordan Harris, members of the General Assembly, and criminal justice reform advocates to celebrate the Clean Slate legislation that passed with bipartisan support and was signed by the Governor to make our Commonwealth more fair for all Pennsylvanians.

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.

With more than 30 bipartisan co-sponsors, the bill, which passed 392-2 Tuesday evening, would establish an ombudsman within the DOJ who would be tasked with handling complaints from incarcerated individuals, corrections staff and others, as well as provide for risk-based assessments of federal prison facilities. The House action marks the first major bipartisan floor action on broad bipartisan criminal justice reform legislation this Congress. The bill cleared the House Oversight Committee by a vote of 41-1 last month.

Jenny Catchings, state policy manager for Justice Action Network, said it can cost a vehicle owner around $640 to retrieve their vehicle from an impound lot, which includes the previous parking debt and new fees incurred by the tow. In addition to how costly towing for debt collection is for lower-income residents, Catchings said the practice is ineffective as well.

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.

Minnesota took a nation-leading step in ending the practice of towing vehicles for unpaid parking tickets when Governor Walz signed the state’s annual transportation omnibus bill, House File 3436, into law Wednesday morning. Under previous Minnesota state law, towing a vehicle from an expired meter was explicitly prohibited with the exception of vehicles associated with five or more unpaid parking tickets. Originally filed under House File 4762 and Senate File 4926, but later included in the annual omnibus, the measured signed into law today removes that exception.

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.

The President announced eleven pardons and five sentence commutations on Wednesday, all granted to individuals who were convicted of non-violent drug felonies which have been a primary focus for the Biden administration.

Last week, the House Oversight and Accountability Committee passed the Federal Prison Oversight Act with a 41-1 vote. The legislation, introduced last year, hopes to shine a light on the shadowy agency that has faced numerous reports of abuse, neglect, and unconstitutional conditions inside several federal facilities across the country by establishing an Ombudsman within the DOJ who would be tasked handling complaints from incarcerated individuals, corrections staff and others, as well as provide for risk-based assessments of federal prison facilities.

The U.S. Sentencing Commission finalized rules that drew broad bipartisan support from criminal justice advocates Wednesday.

Among the 2024 changes to federal sentencing guidelines are rules that alter how sentences for offenses committed prior to the age of eighteen are considered in the calculation of a defendant’s criminal history score, and eliminate the consideration of offenses for which a person of any age has been acquitted during subsequent interactions with the justice system.

The Senate Judiciary Committee held a hearing on the use of solitary confinement in federal facilities Tuesday morning, including an extensive look at the roughly eight percent of individuals in restrictive housing under the Bureau of Prisons on any given day this year. 

The Bureau of Prisons uses solitary or restrictive housing arrangements for incarcerated people for reasons that include inmate and staff safety and for disciplinary reasons. However, even relatively short stays in solitary confinement can exacerbate mental health problems, increase behavioral health crises, and lead to unintended consequences for both staff and incarcerated people, including increased risk of abuse and neglect.  

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.