As so often with this process, there’s good news and bad news. THE GOOD NEWS: We have so far succeeded in moving two bills through their first set of committees. SB1071/HB2290: Directs occupational licensing boards to give provisional licenses (90 days-1 year) to people with criminal convictions. Identical […]
Arizona is long overdue in implementing safe and cost-effective sentencing reform. One bill which has the potential to have huge budget savings as well as positive impacts on public safety is SB1068, which would give people incarcerated for non-violent offenses the opportunity to earn more credits toward early […]
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 […]
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 […]
The shocking riots in the privately-operated Kingman prison and the cancellation of the contract for the facility has raised significant questions about the role of prison privatization in Arizona. The Dept. of Corrections found “a culture of disorganization, disengagement, and disregard of ADC policies and fundamental inmate management […]
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 […]