1. California — (Los Angeles Daily News) An editorial opined that most of the 6,000 Angelenos incarcerated in L.A. county jails do not pose a risk to public safety but simply cannot afford bail. Despite changes to the county’s bail practice, the editors believe that law enforcement and city officials stoked fear that without cash bail, “our communities will see a wave of violence and theft.” Rearrests amounted to only 3.5% during the first three weeks of the new policy, the editorial said.
2. Texas — (KXAN, NBC affiliate, Austin) Local nonprofit affiliates, district attorneys, and restorative justice experts gathered to discuss the Travis County Transformation Project, a diversion pilot program that offers alternatives to involvement in the criminal justice system to youth affected by family violence. An official from the DA’s office called the program an opportunity for families that “…feel like they don’t have any other choice but to involve law enforcement because they don’t have what they need to be able to heal this.”
3. Wisconsin — (Fox6 News Digital Team) Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers granted 82 more pardons, making his total 1,111. The state’s constitution gives the governor power to pardon, which restores rights like serving on a jury, holding public office, and holding certain professional licenses. Returned citizens must have completed their sentence five years ago and without pending charges; sex offenders remain excluded. “It continues to be a privilege to hear about individuals’ lives, work, and what they have done to overcome their past mistakes and build positive, rewarding lives for themselves and their families,” Evers said.
4. Illinois — ( Chicago Sun-Times) The Illinois Pretrial Fairness Act, which eliminates cash bail, aims to promote diversion during pretrial. With 60% of the population living paycheck-to-paycheck, many criminal defendants must stay in jail because they cannot buy their way out. “Critics have wasted no time seizing upon instances in which released defendants have exhibited high-risk behavior or committed new crimes,” said the article.
5. Michigan — ( Detroit Catholic) On November 11, 2023, chaplains, law enforcement and formerly incarcerated persons held a symposium to promote restorative justice and to create a system that exhibits compassion to renew civilization. “Today’s event is in line with our dedication to add a moral voice to the legal profession and to make space for dialogue that keeps human dignity as a central component to pursuing justice,” said University of Detroit Mercy Law School Dean Jelani Jefferson Exum.
6. West Virginia — (West Virginia Public Broadcasting) Virginia’s Governor Jim Justice plans to allocate $4 million in federal funding to improve the criminal justice system and to combat illicit drug use. “These funds will be used to assist state agencies, local governments, private nonprofits agencies to improve the criminal justice system,” said Gov. Justice. Mental health services, human resources, help for law enforcement to combat illicit substance use will benefit from the funds
7. Washington D.C. — (Los Angeles Times) FBI statistics reported a 6% drop in homicides nationwide for 2022. “A 10% decline would be the largest ever recorded,” said crime data analyst Jeff Asher of AH Datalytics. The report includes data from 18,888 local law enforcement departments and sometimes does not reflect cities’ larger drops in comparison to more rural areas.
8. Washington, D.C. — (Gallup Polls) Ever since Gallup asked about fair application of the death penalty in 2000, more Americans considered it applied unfairly (50%) than fairly (47%). In 2023, 52% of Democrats believed capital punishment as applied too often. The poll showed that 62% of Republicans believed the death penalty as applied not often enough. “Capital punishment is legal in 27 U.S. states and in the U.S. nationally, but both death sentences and executions have declined in recent years,” said the report.
9. New York — (Associated Press) The nation’s last floating prison has closed in New York. The Vernon C. Bain Correction Center had 100 cells with 800 beds and 16 dorms. Nicknamed “the boat,” it meant to reduce overcrowding of the Rikers Island jail. “I want to see for myself that there will never be another soul on that boat,” said Lezandre Khadu, a mother of someone housed at the facility whose death resulted from a treatable infection. 10. New York — (The Davis Vanguard) Policymakers are leaning more toward reform with policies that aim to increase public safety and reduce punitiveness in the criminal justice system. The Clean Slate Act passed by New York Governor Kathy Hochul seals the records of persons who remain crime-free after incarceration. According to the U.S. Department of Justice, court fines and fees can hold returning citizens “in a cycle of poverty and punishment that can be nearly impossible to escape,” said the article.
