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.
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.
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.
Kemba Smith
At 24 years old, Kemba Smith was sentenced to 24.5 years in prison for conspiracy to participate in her boyfriend's drug activities, a non-violent, first-time offense. For years, her parents galvanized a tireless movement seeking clemency for their daughter.
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
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.
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.
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.
publications
January 13, 2022
State Voting Rights Briefs
The Sentencing Project is committed to expanding voting rights in every state and works with state partners to provide specific data on state felony disenfranchisement.
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
December 16, 2021
Youth in Adult Courts, Jails, and Prisons
This brief reviews the history, harms, pathways and trends that treat children as if they were adults.
publications
December 08, 2021
Successes in Criminal Legal Reforms, 2021
Formerly incarcerated activists, lawmakers, and advocates achieved important changes in criminal justice policy in 2021 to reduce mass incarceration, expand voting rights and advance racial justice. This briefing paper highlights key reforms undertaken in 2021 prioritized by The Sentencing Project.
Lawrence and Lamont Garrison
Sentences for federal drug crimes are based on the quantity of the drugs involved, not the individual’s role in the crime. The emphasis on quantity rather than the role of the offender, along with the conspiracy laws, too often result in disproportionate sentencing, even for first-time offenses such as the Garrisons’.
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