Election time: Vote to Send JPI to Netroots Nation!

By Zerline Hughes

I guess I’m officially a blogger. JPI has a blog. I write for it every now and again. That makes me a blogger. Wow! Who’d have thought!

So, why not try out for a scholarship sponsored by Democracy for America and America's Voice to attend the NetRoots Nation Conference for bloggers. I AM a blogger, aren’t I? My boss nominated me (it’s an honor just to be considered), and now all I need is your vote!

The Youth of Today Represent the Future of Our Tomorrow

By Karina Watts

“Let’s not send kids to prison unless there is an immediate threat. Let’s look at what works and what won’t cost the tax payers money.” That was a quote from Pat Nolan, Vice President of Prison Fellowship a nonprofit organization that advocates for criminal justice reform.

Last week I had the opportunity to attend a bipartisan briefing titled “Reduce Crime, Reduce Costs, and Improve Lives and Communities through Evidence-Based Prevention.” The briefing focused on evidence-based intervention strategies that would prevent crimes before they occurred. Originally introduced by Representative Bobby Scott (D-VA), the Youth PROMISE Act or the Youth Prison Reduction through Opportunities, Mentoring, Intervention, Support, and Education is designed to reduce juvenile crime and gang violence through evidence-based programs and intervention strategies that have been shown to be effective and be cost-saving.

International Women’s Day: U.S. Must Address Impact of Mass Incarceration on Women

By Tracy Velázquez
 

International Women's Day is an opportunity to reflect on changes needed around the world to improve the lives and status of women. Here in the U.S., the increasing impact of the criminal justice system on women is one of the most pressing human rights and social justice issues of our time.

More women are ending up behind bars than ever. Between 1980 and 1989, the number of women in U.S. prisons tripled. And the number of women in prison has continued to rise since. In the last 10 years, the number of women under jurisdiction of state or federal authorities increased 21 percent, to almost 113,000. During the same time period, the increase in the number of men in prison was 6 percentage points lower, at about 15 percent. The increase in women in the federal population was even larger- over 41 percent from 2000 to 2010.

Our Take: Congressional Briefing on Private Prisons

By Benjamin Laman-Maharg

After a recent, narrow defeat of what would have been the largest private prison expansion in United States history in the Florida House, JPI went to the Hill last Thursday to discuss the dangerous private prison industry and its effect on American communities. The four person panel drew a crowd of over 50 people.

The panel members included:

• Bill Mefford, Director, Civil and Human Rights, General Board of Church and Society, The United Methodist Church
• Joshua Miller, Labor Economist, American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees
• David Shapiro, Staff Attorney, American Civil Liberties Union, National Prison Project
• Tracy Velázquez, Executive Director, Justice Policy Institute

Working on a New History, a New Dream Together

By Zerline Hughes

As Black History Month concludes, we would like to share with you our involvement in a special project that has brought together like-minded organizations and individuals: "Dream of a Nation."

This project, a glossy, 446-page book of essays highlighting a people-centered initiative focused on big dreams, bold innovations, and realizing our full potential as a nation, is an effort to elevate awareness and inspire action around a range of critical social, environmental, and economic issues. Essays highlight such issues as waging peace, strengthening community, media reform, people-centered government, ending poverty and more.

Guest Post: The Old Cliché

By Gail Tyree

The old cliché “Gone up the River” takes on a whole new meaning in South Florida. As a child, I would often hear my mother and her friends sit on the front porch and talk about young men from the neighborhood that have gone up the river. I often wondered what that phrase meant.

“Gone up the river,” as I have come to understand, is when someone is convicted of a crime, incarcerated and sent away to a facility to serve out their imposed sentence. While serving their sentence the expectation is that they will be rehabilitated. In some cases that means educated, treated for drugs, alcohol and/or mental illness and sent back to their families and communities a more productive citizen. A “river” meant to teach you how to swim in mainstream society and, when you reach the bank, return redeemed as a productive part of that society. That’s in the best possible circumstances.

JPI's on the Hill

By Zerline Hughes

JPI started 2012 its our feet with our continuing coverage on justice-involved veterans, commenting on the President’s FY2013 budget, offering testimony in Maryland on expungement and record shielding and publishing a report on the intersection of education and public safety in Washington, DC.

Late February and March are no different with upcoming testimony on Capitol Hill. This is precisely what we publish our groundbreaking research analysis for: to alert policymakers and their staff on the ills of the criminal justice system. We want our research to touch advocates and practitioners, and we want Congress and legislators across the country to fully understand that the U.S. criminal justice system doesn’t work, costs too much, and simply isn’t fair. We want lawmakers to understand that there are alternative processes that we can employ, moving away from the overly harsh and punitive laws that exist. There is more we can do than to just affix a Band-aid on the problem of overcrowded prisons, private prisons, racial disparities and broken families. We need to invest in proven policies that address the root causes of crime and provide robust services and supports for those who do come into contact with the justice system.