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Sentencing Reform

An illustration shows a silhouette of a man with his hands up in frustration as he looks at a woman on a laptop screen. The background is a large representation, blurred with color, of the same woman, who is White with shoulder-length gray hair.
Cleveland April 17
All Stick, No Carrot: Ohio’s Reagan Tokes Law Acts as a ‘One-Way Ratchet’ for Prison Time
Intended to curb prison violence with promises of early release, the law is turning out as unbalanced as critics feared, with sentences extended at every turn.
By
An illustration shows a man with medium skin tone and black hair wearing a blue prison uniform in four scenarios. Clockwise from the top left: The man raises his fists in front of a White man in a prison uniform who is yelling and pointing at him; the man sits on his bed with his head down, looking at a piece of paper; the man sits at a table in front of a woman with a ponytail and medium-dark skin tone; the man stands in an office in front of a laptop, where a woman on a screen is speaking to him. There are four quotes around the figures that read: “It’s a dangerous place here. It got to the point where I had to defend myself.” - Giovanni Lee, “Long story short, they never investigated what happened. They just found me guilty.” - Lamont Clark, “You all had my fate sealed before I even got in the room.” - Edward Navone, and “I’m about to go home. They ended up maxing me out, giving me my whole time.’”- Giovanni Lee
Cleveland April 10
How Ohio’s Reagan Tokes Law Keeps People in Prison Longer
It came as a response by lawmakers to a horrific crime. Now, thousands of people imprisoned since 2019 risk more time behind bars for breaking rules.
By
A woman in an orange jail uniform crouches toward the ground, against a fence.
Closing Argument March 29
How States Are Undoing Criminal Justice Reforms
Louisiana, New York and other states are rolling back reforms — and efforts to reduce excessive sentencing or expand parole are smaller in scope.
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A group of people, wearing blue prison uniforms with the words "CDCR prisoner" on their backs, walk through a prison yard.
Closing Argument August 31, 2024
How Efforts to Cut Long Prison Sentences Have Stalled
Crime victim advocates and conservative groups are resisting moves to revisit “truth-in-sentencing” laws.
By
Gov. J.B. Pritzker, a seated man with light-toned skin and short-cropped dark hair, signs a bill that is composed of a high stack of papers. Eight masked people with varying skin tones and genders stand behind him.
Election 2024 August 1, 2024
Facing Rollbacks, Criminal Justice Reformers Argue Policies Make People Safer
Advocates are refining their rebuttal to “tough on crime” messaging: Don’t focus on punishment, but on reforms that improve public safety.
By
Feature December 16, 2021
Her Baby Died After Hurricane Katrina. Was It a Crime?
An expansive definition of murder in Louisiana leaves many behind bars forever.
By , Lea Skene and
President Donald Trump announces his support of the “First Step Act” at the White House in November.
News November 16, 2018
What’s Really in the First Step Act?
Too much? Too little? You be the judge.
By
A classroom at the Thomson Correctional Center, a federal prison, in Thomson, Ill.
News May 22, 2018
Is The “First Step Act” Real Reform?
Congress and criminal justice, a scorecard
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Prosecutors like Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner, a former public defender, are establishing conviction integrity units. Now Krasner plans to review the sentences handed to those convicted of crimes.
News March 20, 2018
The DAs Who Want to Set the Guilty Free
‘Sentence review units’ would revisit harsh punishments from the past.
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William Otis speaking before the House Judiciary Committee Over-Criminalization Task Force in 2014.
News March 15, 2018
If You Can’t Kill It, Join It
Trump’s nominee to this panel called it “an overfed lemur.”
By
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