Crime Statistics Do Not Support Claims of a Crime Wave in Kentucky
The sponsors of House Bill (HB) 5, which will significantly increase incarceration in Kentucky by harshening penalties and lengthening sentences...
Criminal Justice
Companion Bills to Automate Expungement Would Give Hundreds of Thousands of Kentuckians a Second Chance
Involvement in the criminal legal system, even just once, can have long-lasting consequences that negatively affect social and economic mobility, and quality of life. An estimated 38% of Kentucky adults...
House Bill 5 Would Cost Kentucky More Than $1 Billion Over a Decade
The Kentucky Senate is now considering House Bill (HB) 5, legislation containing the most sweeping expansion of the state’s criminal statutes in decades. In addition to increasing incarceration, hardship and...
House Bill 5 Arrives in Senate With Changes That Make It Even More Harmful
Last week, the House passed House Bill (HB) 5, a sprawling collection of tried-and-failed policies that will increase incarceration, hardship and the risk of fatal overdose in Kentucky. Prior to...
House Bill 5 Doubles Down on Ineffective Policies That Will Further Increase Incarceration and Hardship
All Kentuckians deserve to feel safe in their communities, but sending even more people to jail and prison, and for longer, will not make us safer. And yet, that’s the...
Floor Amendment to HB 5 Proposes New Harmful Changes That Far Outweigh Attempts at Making Bill Less Harsh
The House is expected to vote on House Bill (HB) 5 today with a floor amendment from its primary sponsor. Rather than make the bill less harsh, nearly all of...
House Bill 5 Doubles Down on Ineffective Policies That Will Further Increase Incarceration and Hardship
This analysis was originally published on January 10. It was updated on January 22 to reflect the most recent version of House Bill 5. All Kentuckians should be able to...
More Than 300,000 Kentuckians Have Been Charged for Cannabis Over the Past Two Decades
Over the past two decades, as states around the nation have moved to decriminalize and legalize cannabis, more than 300,000 people in Kentucky have been charged with a cannabis-related crime,...
Report: Criminal Fines and Fees Drive up Incarceration, Push Kentuckians Deeper Into Poverty
Excessive fines and fees imposed through the criminal legal system drive up incarceration and perpetuate poverty in Kentucky, according to new research from the Vera Institute of Justice. Local and...
Facts Don’t Support Economic Argument for Proposed Federal Prison in Letcher County
In the wake of last year’s devastating eastern Kentucky floods, the federal government reintroduced a previously defeated proposal to build a new Bureau of Prisons (BOP) prison and “prison camp”...