John,

Criminal legal reform trends in 2024 were divergent at a time when politicians used punitive-sounding talking points to move voters fearful of a recent uptick in crime. Despite challenges, advocates saw some success in advancing reform this year.

Top Trends in Criminal Justice Reform, 2024 describes key changes formerly incarcerated activists, lawmakers, and advocates took to challenge mass incarceration in at least 9 states. Highlights include:

Decarceration Reforms: State lawmakers enacted legal reforms to reduce prison admissions and to adjust penalties to criminal sentences to more fairly hold persons convicted of certain crimes accountable. During 2024, policymakers in Oklahoma and Michigan adopted or expanded second look and compassionate release policies authorizing reconsideration of certain criminal legal sentences after a term of years.
Guaranteeing Voting Rights: While over 4 million people are ineligible to vote because of a felony conviction, voting rights reforms have expanded the vote to over two million people since 1997. This year, officials in Nebraska and Oklahoma approved measures to expand voting rights to persons after incarceration while lawmakers in Colorado passed legislation requiring all county jails to establish polling stations guaranteeing access to the ballot for incarcerated voters.
Youth Justice: Lawmakers in Indiana and Pennsylvania adopted policies that demonstrated a commitment to supporting young defendants including eliminating automatic charging of youth as adults for certain offenses and establishing practices that may reduce length of detention stays.

The full briefing paper, which includes details on the authorized legislation, can be found online here.