Tennessee's justice system may be getting a makeover, as a forum on Thursday will cover new ideas to modernize it.
The Sycamore Institute event will focus on using data-driven approaches, increased funding and policy changes.
Brian Straessle, executive director of the institute, said they want to provide clarity for people to learn about criminal justice policy in Tennessee. One session, with representatives from the District Attorney General Conference and Administrative Office of the Courts, will discuss criminal justice data reporting in the state.
"Last session in the Legislature, there were a couple of laws passed that required each of those entities to develop some unified case reporting and data reporting tools," Straessle explained. "Because right now, it's hard to get a real good sense of what is happening in the court system across the state of Tennessee."
More than 44,000 people were in state prisons and local jails across Tennessee in 2023. Straessle added the goal of the forum is to provide insights into the approaches groups are taking to implement their plans and identify areas for improvement.
Straessle added the second session will focus on paying for incarceration. He noted during the pandemic, the state saw an increase in crime, which in turn created concern about the capacity of Tennessee prisons.
"The winds have shifted a little bit to more of a 'tough on crime' focus at the state level, and that means, you know, more people behind bars for longer," Straessle pointed out. "There's questions about, what does that mean for Tennessee's jail and prison capacity? And whatever we end up doing, we need to know what that will be and what it's going to cost if we need more capacity."
While pre-pandemic interest in reform was high, rising crime has led to stricter laws. The final session will be a conversation with state lawmakers about public safety and criminal justice policy.
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Hundreds of people from across Michigan gathered in Lansing this week, urging House Speaker Joe Tate, D-Detroit and Senate Majority Leader Winnie Brinks, D-Grand Rapids, to advance the Second Look Sentencing Act to improve prison safety. The legislation allows people serving long sentences to have their cases reviewed for possible sentence reductions based on factors such as rehabilitation. The crowd included formerly incarcerated people who've turned their lives around and their families, victims of crime, prison staff and lawmakers.
Chuck Warpehoski, projects director with Michigan Collaborative to End Mass Incarceration, warned there is a prison staffing crisis in Michigan.
"We're seeing it in nursing, we're seeing it in child care, we're seeing it on the shop floor, we're seeing it with baristas. When it happens in a prison and people are forced to work mandatory double shifts, they're tired, they're not seeing their family -- it creates unsafe conditions for everyone," he said.
Warpehoski added they're urging lawmakers to pass the Second Look Act during this lame-duck session before they go home for the holidays.
He also pointed out the high costs of incarcerating people -- up to $48,000 per year, per person. He added that with the failed pay incentives to attract more staff, he believes it's clear a different solution is needed. Warpehoski shared some of the feedback they received.
"A lot of legislators and their staff said, hey, this makes sense -- and so it was a really, really positive response from not every office, but from a large number of offices we had meetings with," he continued.
Warpehoski stressed that Second Look legislation focuses on fairness by offering the possibility of release for individuals who have rehabilitated and are no longer a threat to society.
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Advocates of criminal-justice reform warn the passage of Proposition 36 will mean a sharp reduction in funds to anti-crime initiatives. The measure raises the penalties for certain drug and theft crimes, making more of them felonies that carry jail time.
Will Matthews, a spokesperson for Californians for Safety and Justice, a nonprofit public-safety advocacy organization, said voters were fed false promises that Prop. 36 would reduce property crime by forcing more people to choose between treatment and incarceration.
"It really was a disingenuous initiative that now will result in billions of dollars being diverted away from treating addiction, treating mental illness, and helping folks coming home from a period of incarceration," he said.
Prop. 36 repeals parts of Proposition 47, which funneled the savings from reduced prison costs into programs designed to combat poverty and addiction - the root causes of crime.
Christopher Hallenbrook, a political science professor with Cal State Dominguez Hills, agrees that Prop 36 will cost the state hundreds of millions of dollars, money he says will be diverted from anti-crime initiatives.
"There's no way you can pass '36' and not put more people in jail. The more money you're spending on incarceration, the less money you're spending on other things," Hallenbrook stated. "That is definitely an accurate assessment for Prop. 36 and it seems to be one that voters decided they were OK with."
Prop. 36 was largely funded by such retail giants as Home Depot, Target and Walmart, hoping that the prospect of higher penalties would deter retail crime.
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Loretta Rush, Chief Justice of the Indiana Supreme Court, has released the 2023-24 annual report for the state's courts.
The report shows Indiana's judicial system is taking big steps to tackle the mental health crisis. The Supreme Court recently launched the Office of Behavioral Health and hired Brittany Kelly as its behavioral health specialist, making Indiana the tenth state in the country to embed a mental health professional within its judiciary.
"She's off and running. She's had hundreds of inquiries from around the state. She's meeting with judges," Rush outlined. "She's helping with things like competency evaluations, access to Medicaid, how do I get somebody who's going through dementia through the court system?"
Rush pointed out Kelly will help the courts manage the mental health and substance use issues flooding Indiana's courtrooms daily. The latest report shows more than 1 million cases passed through the courts this past fiscal year, including almost 20,000 involuntary mental health hearings and a sharp rise in protective orders for domestic violence.
Rush highlighted the strain on local courts, noting about 70% of people in jail have behavioral health issues.
"How do we make sure we have diversion programs in place? How do we make sure that the services we're ordering for people to do are the right services?" Rush asked. "We've done a lot at the national level with regard to substance abuse and mental health, realizing programs that are working."
The judiciary is working with state agencies to reform policies and address the impact of mental health issues on the system. Kelly has training in both social work and law, and helps judges connect with treatment resources to get people the support they need and keep them out of jail.
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