Every election is important for the fate and future of criminal justice reform, but every even-year Fall it is hard not to get caught up in the notion that this year's election is uniquely significant and consequential. As I noted in this prior post, the discussion at the last Prez debate leads me to be (foolishly?) hopeful that we will see some follow up to the FIRST STEP Act or some other form of of federal criminal justice reform in the coming years no matter who prevails at the federal level. But surely the scope and contents of possible federal reform will depend not only on who is in the White House and who is in charge in Congress, but also on what kinds of reforms move forward and prove successful at the state and local level.
Because the FIRST STEP Act at the federal level was made possible in part by the political and practical successes at the state level, even those focused primarily on the federal system ought to keep a close eye on state and local criminal justice reform and election realities. Helpfully, there is a lot of good press coverage on all these topics these days, and here is a sampling:
Some National Perspectives:
From The Appeal, "Your Guide To 30 Sheriff And Prosecutor Elections That Could Challenge Mass Incarceration: These are key local elections where criminal justice reform is on the line next month."
From the Drug Enforcement and Policy Center, "Drug Reforms on the 2020 Ballot: A closer look at drug policy reform decisions voters will make during the 2020 election"
From Fox News, "Marijuana-legalization supporters tout economic benefits in new voter pitch: Advocates argue sales and excise taxes would help bail out states crushed by coronavirus"
From Reason: "On Criminal Justice, Trump and Biden Are Running Against Their Own Records: The progressive who helped usher in mass incarceration is running against the law and order conservative who let prisoners go free."
From Vox, "How 2020 voters could change the criminal justice system, in 6 ballot measures: Voters in several states have a chance to change the criminal justice system in 2020."
From Vox, "2020’s psychedelic drug ballot measures, explained: Oregon and Washington, DC, voters may relax their laws for psychedelic drugs."
Some State Specifics:
From the Denver Post, "Half of Colorado’s district attorneys will be replaced after election, setting scene for future of criminal justice reform"
From Governing, "California to Vote on What’s Next for Criminal Justice Reform: The state’s Proposition 20 would expand felonies which are ineligible for parole and collect DNA samples of misdemeanor offenders. Californians must decide if it assures public safety or is backward progress."
From The Oklahoman: "Five things to know about Oklahoma State Question 805"
From Vox, "Oregon’s ballot measure to decriminalize all drugs, explained: The ballot measure is trying to move the state from a criminal justice to a public health approach on drugs."
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