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Criminal Justice

Bills Increasing and Decreasing Incarceration in KY 2011 22

Analysis

The 2022 General Assembly Passed More Bills Increasing Incarceration Than Decreasing It, and Failed to Make Other Badly Needed Justice Changes

Kentucky has one of the worst rates of incarceration in the country. Two years after a sharp decline in the...

Carmen Mitchell and Pam Thomas | May 5, 2022

Money bail and disparate justice

Analysis

Pretrial Bills in the Kentucky General Assembly Are a Mixed Bag

Kentucky’s pretrial system — which determines whether a person charged with a crime waits for their day in court behind bars or at home — is arbitrary, unfair and rife...

Carmen Mitchell, Pam Thomas and Ashley Spalding | March 16, 2022

Prison Gates

Analysis

While Failing to Address Kentucky’s Overdose Crisis, HB 215 Would Keep People Incarcerated Longer

Kentucky is currently in the midst of an overdose crisis, particularly with fentanyl, a synthetic opioid that when pharmaceutically prescribed can be used to treat pain but when acquired illegally...

Carmen Mitchell | February 21, 2022

Criminal Penalties op ed graphic

Op-Ed

There’s Still Time for Kentucky to Reverse Course on Harmful Criminal Policies

The 2022 General Assembly has a big opportunity to build on positive changes in criminal policy from last session. Increasing the threshold at which theft becomes a felony, ending the...

Carmen Mitchell | February 15, 2022

Gavel and scales

Analysis

Kentucky Has an Opportunity to Continue Steps to Reducing Incarceration by Addressing Harsh “Persistent Felony Offender” Laws

Kentucky’s Persistent Felony Offender (PFO) law is a punitive sentencing policy that emerged during the beginning of the so-called War on Drugs. While originally intended as a measure to deter...

Carmen Mitchell and Ashley Spalding | January 27, 2022

Prison Door Slightly Open

Op-Ed

One Step Forward, Six Steps Back: A Decade After Widely Hailed Criminal Justice Reform, Incarceration Is Worsening in Kentucky

Amid inflammatory — and frequently racist — news stories about violence during the COVID-19 pandemic, Kentuckians may be wondering if more criminal punishment would make our communities safer. The answer...

Carmen Mitchell | December 20, 2021

Returning to front door

Analysis

What the Legislature Can Do to Improve the Return Home for Kentuckians Leaving Incarceration

Despite the harms to people, families and communities, Kentucky incarcerates 40% more people than the U.S. average. In addition, existing state and federal policies strip people reentering society of certain...

Jessica Klein | December 16, 2021

Prison Door Slightly Open

Report

In Decade Since Major Criminal Justice Reform, the Kentucky General Assembly Has Passed Six Times as Many Laws Increasing Incarceration as Decreasing It

This year marks the 10th anniversary of the passage of 2011’s House Bill (HB) 463, “The Public Safety and Offender Accountability Act.”[efn_note]2011 Ky. Acts, ch. 2, https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/law/acts/11RS/documents/0002.pdf.[/efn_note] HB 463 was...

Carmen Mitchell, Pam Thomas, Ashley Spalding and Dustin Pugel | December 9, 2021

Kentucky Jail Capacity and Population

Op-Ed

To Address Mass Incarceration, Kentucky Must End Perverse Incentives to Expand and Crowd Local Jails

The United States incarcerates 5 times more people per capita than other wealthy countries. Yet, while some states are succeeding at reducing incarceration and its harms to individuals, families and...

Ashley Spalding | November 1, 2021

Kentucky Jail Capacity and Population

Report

The Golden Key: How State-Local Financial Incentives to Lock Up Kentuckians Are Perpetuating Mass Incarceration

Incarceration is harmful to individuals, families and communities, yet Kentucky incarcerates 40% more people per capita than the United States average, which is more than 5 times larger than other...

Ashley Spalding, Pam Thomas and Dustin Pugel | October 21, 2021

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Criminal Justice News

1 Local Jails Seeing Rise in Inmate Populations

2 How Legislators, Jailers Aim to Fight Recidivism, Overcrowding in Kentucky Jails

3 KY Jails Are Again Overfilling After COVID Restrictions Lift. Will New Laws Make It Worse?

4 High Incarceration Rate Leaves Most of Kentucky’s Jails Overpopulated. See the Data.

5 Post-Pandemic, KY Returns to World-High Incarceration Rate

View All Criminal Justice News Items

The Experts

The 2022 General Assembly Passed More Bills Increasing Incarceration Than Decreasing It, and Failed to Make Other Badly Needed Justice Changes

Carmen Mitchell

The Devastating Economic Harms of Banning Abortion in Kentucky

Ashley Spalding

Kentucky Should Not Volunteer for Greater Inequality by Becoming More Like Tennessee

Pam Thomas

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