news
March 16, 2022
Opinion: Nearly 60 years after Voting Rights Act, some voter protections still undermined
Thousands of people in federal custody or who have been released still face roadblocks that prevent them from gaining full access to the ballot box. The Sentencing Project's Keeda Haynes penned an op-ed in USA Today that highlights the importance of universal suffrage.
publications
March 15, 2022
Too Many Locked Doors
The scope of youth confinement is vastly understated. A one-day count cannot accurately reflect the wide and deep footprint of youth incarceration.
James Inge
James D. Inge is one of 300 individuals age 60 or older arrested between 1965 and 1980 that was sentenced to life imprisonment in Pennsylvania. Learn more about his campaign to give rehabilitated seniors serving life a second chance.
publications
March 07, 2022
Sign-on Letter: Ensure Fair Process for "Old Law" People in Federal Process
Justice organizations urge Attorney General Merrick Garland to exercise oversight of the U.S. Parole Commission and ensure that the Commission provides a fair process for the several hundred "old law" people within its jurisdiction.
publications
February 28, 2022
Vermont Must End Life Without Parole
Vermont must pursue new reforms to undo the harmful and ineffective warehousing of people that life sentences result in and to offer opportunities for rehabilitation and redemption.
Christopher Poulos
When Chris Poulos was arrested, he experienced firsthand the difference that money can make in the criminal justice system. He recounts the experience in his own words.
news
February 25, 2022
Race & Justice News: Biased Criminalization of Gun Possession
Momentum is building for racial impact statement analysis of legislation in more states, public defenders oppose biased criminalization of gun possession, and more in the latest Race & Justice News.
news
February 22, 2022
Can COVID-19 Teach Us How to End Mass Incarceration?
In the University of Miami Law Review, Amy Fettig penned an essay that examines the federal, state and local government response to the COVID-19 pandemic in prisons and what lessons can be learned in our ongoing need to decarcerate and end the era of mass incarceration.
Kimberly Haven
Kimberly Haven’s journey as an advocate began when she sought to regain her own voting rights after release from a Maryland prison in 2001. She soon became passionate about the unfairness of disenfranchising citizens after they have completed their sentence and returned to the community.
publications
February 14, 2022
Letter to Justice Department on Appointment of Bureau of Prisons Director
In a letter to U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland, The Sentencing Project urges the Department of Justice to hire a new Bureau of Prisons Director who is capable of and committed to leading the Bureau through systemic reform.
publications
February 09, 2022
State Action to Narrow the School-to-Prison Pipeline
Thanks to a $122 billion infusion of federal funds for public education included in the March 2021 American Rescue Plan, schools and communities have the opportunity to invest vast resources in effective new approaches to close the school-to-prison pipeline. The Sentencing Project has examined the plans submitted by every state for use of these federal funds.
Willie Mays Aikens
In 2008, Willie Mays Aikens made headlines when a federal judge reduced his lengthy prison term to 14 years as a result of the U.S. Sentencing Commission’s adjustment to the crack cocaine sentencing guidelines. Aikens was released in June 2008.
publications
January 26, 2022
Testimony in Support of Maryland Bill to End Automatic Transfer of Youth to Adult Court
The Sentencing Project offered expert testimony in support of Maryland's SB165, a bill to end the automatic charging of Maryland’s youth as if they were adults.
publications
January 25, 2022
Testimony in Support of Nebraska's Racial Impact Statement Legislation
The Sentencing Project offered expert testimony in support of Nebraska's Legislative Bill 814, a Racial Impact Statement Act.
Dorothy Gaines
Dorothy Gaines's life changed when Alabama state police raided her home for drugs. Police found no evidence of Gaines having possessed or sold drugs, yet federal prosecutors charged Gaines with drug conspiracy.
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