Why COVID-19 Makes Marijuana Enforcement a Waste of Resources
DEC. 23, 2020 – Despite gains in drug policy reform in the 2020 election, and even as 38 states and Washington, D.C. have now decriminalized marijuana or authorized its medical use, a marijuana arrest occurred every 58 seconds in 2019. In this op-ed in The Crime Report, Washtenaw County (Ann Arbor), Michigan Prosecuting Attorney-Elect Eli Savit, Law Enforcement Action Partnership Executive Executive Director Maj. Neill Franklin, and FJP Executive Director Miriam Krinsky discuss why marijuana reform promotes public safety, is fiscally responsible, and is widely supported by the public. They urge action on federal reforms to decriminalize marijuana.
“As the ongoing health and economic crises of the COVID-19 pandemic further expose the injustices of marijuana policy, there has never been a more important moment for reform.”
Biden can rebuild trust in our justice system by prioritizing prosecutorial reform
NOV. 26, 2020 – After four years of unprecedented criticism and attacks on reform prosecutors across the US, and with the public hungry for change to the criminal justice system, it’s critical that prosecutorial reform be prioritized by the White House. In this op-ed in The Hill, FJP Executive Director Miriam Krinsky shares why transforming the field of local prosecution should be a central focus of the Biden Administration’s criminal justice platform.
“[T]he new administration’s ability to impact the criminal justice system will depend, in significant part, on its ability to support and work alongside local prosecutors.”
2020 vote saw pro-reform prosecutors win. Now they need to fix mistakes by their predecessors.
NOV. 20, 2020 – A recent study of 2,400 exonerations from 1989-2019 found that prosecutorial misconduct played a role in 30 percent of cases. Elected prosecutors have a responsibility to prevent misconduct in their offices as well as to proactively address past injustices by establishing Conviction Integrity Units that work with defense counsel and innocence organizations to review prior convictions. In this op-ed in NBC Think, Innocence Project co-founder Barry Scheck and FJP Executive Director Miriam Krinsky discuss the critical role prosecutors play in determining whether an innocent person ends up – or stays – behind bars.
“The job of a prosecutor is to pursue justice, not to win at all costs. One innocent person behind bars is too many. Prosecutors must do better, learn from the mistakes that have already been made and ensure that future lives are not lost to systemic failures.”
Don’t block formerly incarcerated people from supportive housing
NOV. 19, 2020 – Formerly incarcerated individuals are about 10 times more likely to be homeless. Yet, a new proposal in Texas would block anyone convicted of a range of criminal offenses from living in supportive housing. In this op-ed in the Austin American-Statesman, FJP Executive Director Miriam Krinsky and American Conservative Union General Counsel David Safavian share why this would make Texans less safe and urge Texas Governor Greg Abbott to reject this proposal.
“Too often our nation has tried to counter crime simply by pushing the problem out of sight. We warehouse people who have committed crimes and then bar them from our workplaces, colleges and housing developments when they return to our communities. These short-sighted responses have not worked.”
Community supervision, once intended to help offenders, contributes more to mass incarceration
NOV. 19, 2020 – The unnecessarily onerous conditions put on the 4.4 million people on probation and parole in the U.S. too often lead to reincarceration for technical violations rather than new criminal offenses. In this op-ed in USA Today, FJP Executive Director Miriam Krinsky and Columbia Justice Lab Co-Director and former Commissioner of the New York City Department of Probation Vincent Schiraldi share why reimagining our criminal legal system requires reforming probation and parole.
“We’ve created a system that too often sets people up for failure by requiring individuals who are trying to get back on their feet to be superhuman and error free.”