Criminal Justice

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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

Pretrial Bills in the Kentucky General Assembly Are a Mixed Bag

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Research that works for Kentucky

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