Nearly half of the U.S. prison population is now serving time for a violent offense, including assault and robbery. While the First Step Act and other criminal justice reforms have limited the number of people imprisoned for drug crimes, they have yet to meaningfully reduce excessive penalties for violent crimes. Thenextstep to ending mass incarceration must include scaling back excessive penalties for people convicted of violent crimes.
The Sentencing Project hosted a conversation with criminal justice reform advocates who have made inroads in fighting for this critical nextstep.
In recent years most states have enacted reforms designed to reduce the scale of incarceration and the impact of the collateral consequences of a felony conviction. This briefing paper describes key reforms that were prioritized in 2019.
As the movement to challenge mass incarceration evolves there is growing attention being given to the dramatic impact of life sentences on the prison population. In 2019 national and state groups worked to build the base of support for ending life imprisonment. State advocates and organizers facilitated connections through strategy sessions to support reform.
