Think Arizona spends too much on prisons? Now is your chance to be heard!! After banning public testimony during departmental budget hearings, the House Appropriations Committee has decided to hold a “Budget Conversation Tour,” to solicit public input on the state budget. Gov. Ducey has stated that he wants […]
Last week, the Arizona House Appropriations Committee announced it will not allow any public commentary during budget hearings. On Jan 28, the House banned protesting students from being physically present during the Committee meeting on education funding. At one point, the Sergeant At Arms closed the doors to the […]
In his State of the State speech, Governor Doug Ducey said: “And, if we’re serious about reducing recidivism – and reversing the growth of our prison population, let’s begin by building on the model already working in Pima County: a community corrections center, providing tough love and on-site […]
What a year! There’s never a dull moment when you are working for criminal justice reform in Arizona. We’d like to share with you just the highlights of some of our achievements from 2015: We added THREE new incredible staff people We passed sentencing reform legislation for the […]
Our enthusiasm for the Governor’s claims about adding more transparency and accountability to the prison contracting process in Arizona is beginning to wane. While we were pleased to hear that he was requiring that the assignment of a new contract for the Kingman prison be subject to a more open search […]
Tell the Governor and legislative leadership NO MORE PRISON BEDS! Even after the most recent riots at the Kingman prison and Gov. Ducey’s decision to cancel the contract with MTC, The Arizona Department of Corrections has submitted a FY2017 budget request for ANOTHER 2,500 more prison beds. That’s […]
SB1390 would release more people into the Transition Program, which provides 90 days of behavioral health programming and reentry assistance to non-violent offenders. The program has existed since 2003 and has a proven track record of success in reducing recidivism. Eligible individuals are released from prison 90 days […]