Mississippi Leads the Nation in Criminal Justice Reform

Jails are overcrowded with inmates awaiting their trial and who didn't have the money to make bail. Across the country states are trying to implement new policies to deny high-risk felons bail, while conducting risk assessments to see if inmates would be a safety concern if they were released until their trial. Many plans have been developed but the big bail business remains a barrier.

Oklahoma currently locks up more women than any other state in the country, incarcerating females at more than double the national rate, and harshly deals out ever-longer sentences to prisoners, disproportionately targeting poor women and those of color. Tulsa is the one exception, thanks to a charitably-funded, intensive programs like The Education and Employment Ministry and Women in Recovery, which combine shorter prison terms with rehabilitative treatment and supportive probation, including drug addiction recovery, employment assistance, and life skills classes.

In 2018, San Francisco county forgave $32 million worth of criminal justice administrative fees. These fees are issued to formerly incarcerated individuals upon release from prison, most of which are not employed and without stable housing. The coalition pursuing this policy change cited economic justice for those that have already paid their societal debt and an overall state savings in collection costs as the primary reasons to end this practice.

The organization Southerners on New Ground is helping reform the criminal justice system in the south. Activists won a small victory in Atlanta, where the mayor and city council approved a resolution that replaced cash bonds with signature bonds for misdemeanor offenses. They also raised money to help people pay their cash bails as part of a larger event called the National Bail Out collective, which bailed out 147 Black women in 26 cities this year.

Using the catalyst approach, Judge Thelton Henderson was able to reform California prisons. He employed courts to change bureaucratic systems, and was moved by the idea that if you “encourage everyone involved to buy into a solution.. long-term change will happen.” Coupled with court orders, Henderson oversaw lawsuits involving overcrowding and inadequate medical services in prisons. A move that led to statewide change.

As New Jersey continues to reform its cash bail system, other states in the region look to it as an example. The state developed an algorithm called the Public Safety Assessment that considers an individual’s likeliness to appear for their court date and whether they pose a risk of committing another crime and presents these findings and corresponding recommendations to a judge. Since the reforms have been in place, the state has seen a 20% decrease in the pre-trial jail population and an overall decrease in crime.

Many offenders get out of jail owing hundreds or thousands of dollars in court and parole fees but face barriers to financing and job acquisition, sticking them in a punitive, vicious cycle of debt and arrest. A program called the Clapham Set, perhaps paired with conditional cash transfers - may be a solution, as it erases fees for felons who complete rehab and job training upon release.

The Minnesota Freedom Fund has ramped up its spending to pay bail for people with low-level charges. The COVID-19 threat has added urgency to this increasingly popular response to the cash bail system. With jails and prisons posing a great threat to inmates during a pandemic, there have been increased calls to release non-violent inmates to slow the spread and protect those experiencing incarceration.

Treating women who are coerced into human trafficking as victims provides opportunities for recovery. Alongside the passage of legislation against human trafficking in Ohio, Franklin County courts have implemented a recovery program. Changing Actions to Change Habits (CATCH), provides victims of human trafficking with support in the form of housing, food, and treatment for addiction and trauma. In exchange for participation in the program, women can have their records expunged.

A piece of bipartisan legislation was introduced to the United States’ Senate in February 2018 that would give individuals in incarceration access to Pell Grants, thus increasing their college education opportunities. While the bill was not enacted, it is part of an ongoing process of reinstating access to Pell Grants for prisoners from the Obama administration, who gave limited access in its Second Chance program. This bill speaks to the largely bipartisan cultural shift that embraces the need to invest in correctional education in order to prevent recidivism.