news
February 01, 2019
State Advocacy News: Strategies to end life imprisonment, expand the vote, and strengthen reentry policies
Since Florida's success with the passage of Amendment 4, lawmakers and advocates in California, Iowa, Minnesota, New Mexico, New Jersey and Kentucky have advanced proposals to restore voting rights.
news
December 19, 2018
Commentary: Progress on justice reform closer
The First Step Act is an important milestone in the long road to ending mass incarceration and curbing the excesses and harm in the federal justice system.
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
December 14, 2018
The Sentencing Project Urges Senate to Oppose Cotton - Kennedy Amendment to the First Step Act
The Sentencing Project urges the Senate to pass the First Step Act without amendment #4109, introduced by Senators Tom Cotton and John Kennedy—which is designed to derail the legislation and weaken its rehabilitation incentive program.
publications
November 28, 2018
The Sentencing Project Calls on Congress to Pass First Step Act
In a letter sent to Senate and House leadership, The Sentencing Project urged Congress to move quickly to pass the sentencing reform measures in the First Step Act (S.3649) "to help create a safer, more equitable and fairer justice system."
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
November 07, 2018
State Criminal Justice Reform and the 2018 Midterms
Voters across the nation considered a number of criminal justice reform measures—ranging from voting rights to sentencing reform.
news
November 05, 2018
State Advocacy News: Retroactivity and Criminal Justice Reform
Voters decide on ballot proposals for retroactive sentencing and the restoration of voting rights to people with felony convictions.
Theresa McIntyre Smith
In 1999, Theresa Smith was arrested at an airport after she met a drug courier in Roy Mercer’s network and according to the government, identified a suitcase containing eleven kilograms of cocaine for the courier. Smith said she had been told by Mercer that the suitcase contained his nieces’ clothes. For this first-time non-violent offense, Smith was sentenced to a ten-year mandatory prison term.
news
October 30, 2018
Race & Justice News: Blacks Disproportionately Arrested for Marijuana in Alabama
Blacks in Alabama were four times as likely to be arrested for marijuana possession in 2016 as whites, L.A. County deputies disproportionately stop Latinos to find drugs, and more in Race & Justice News.
news
September 26, 2018
Race & Justice News: DC Girls of Color Increasingly Arrested
Although arrests of boys in Washington, DC have declined in the last decade, arrests of girls have increased.
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
July 31, 2018
State Advocacy News: Transforming Closed Adult and Youth Prisons
Lessons for stakeholders include prioritizing prison population reduction efforts and planning for prison repurposing.
publications
June 25, 2018
Letter to Senate on Advancing Sentencing Reform legislation
The Sentencing Project urges the Senate to move quickly to pass sentencing reform legislation, like the Sentencing Reform and Corrections Act (S. 1917) sponsored by Senators Charles Grassley and Richard Durbin, to help create a safer, more equitable and fairer prison system.
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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