Ailing Juvenile System Needs Investment and Care, Not Harsher Penalties
The bipartisan working group on Kentucky’s Department of Juvenile Justice (DJJ) wrapped up last week, and the legislature heads back...
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 Kentucky jail population due to COVID-19 policy-driven releases, the state’s...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...