Monday afternoon, Illinois Governor Bruce Rauner signed SB 1607, the Criminal Justice Best Practices Act, into law. This measure, sponsored by Rep. Jehan Gordon-Booth (D-Peoria) and Sen. Kwame Raoul (D-Chicago), introduces best practices to facilitate re-entry for individuals leaving incarceration and reduce recidivism and follows on the heels of the passage of the Neighborhood Safety Act in 2017.

Legislation that allows the Michigan Parole Board to grant parole based on objective factors was signed into law by Governor Rick Snyder.

The Alliance for Safety and Justice (ASJ), in partnership with the Florida Rights Restoration Coalition, launched a new television ad running statewide in Florida.

The bipartisan legislation known as SB66 was signed into law by Governor Kasich this summer and represents a balanced approach to public safety.

Despite popular assumptions that victims support
long prison sentences, the vast majority of crime survivors in Michigan believe the criminal justice
system invests too little in rehabilitation and treatment and focuses too much on punishment.

The Alliance for Safety and Justice (ASJ), one of the nation’s leading criminal justice reform organizations praised the passing of SB 66 in the Ohio House of Representatives. Passing SB 66 was one of ASJ’s top priorities for the year. The bill must now go back to the Senate for final passage.

Today, Crime Survivors for Safety and Justice, a flagship project of the Alliance for Safety and Justice, announced a national expansion of their organizing effort to bring together diverse survivors of crime and amplify survivors’ voices in criminal justice and public safety policy.

Today, the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services announced a $365,927 grant to Hurley Medical Center in Flint, Mich. to establish a trauma recovery center, becoming the third state in the nation to create a network of trauma recovery centers to support victims of violent crime.

Today, Ohio Governor John Kasich signed the 2018-2019 state budget, which includes provisions to reduce the number of people in state prison in the top incarcerating counties and to reduce incarcerations due to technical probation violations, while also investing dollars in local programming and incentivizing rehabilitation by expanding access to earned credit.

Key findings from a recent public opinion survey of representative Ohio voters were released today showing voters’ strong support for criminal justice reforms that reduce the number of people in state prison for low-level offenses.