Check out these stories from around the web that promote justice that restores!
IN TEXAS, CRIMINAL JUSTICE REFORM IS A HUMAN ISSUE, NOT A PARTISAN ONE
An unlikely political alliance in Texas is leading the way for criminal justice reform. Business Insider reports that the state once known for its “lock-em up” approach to crime is now getting “smart on crime.”
The mid-2000s saw a surge in the Texas prison population, a phenomenon that would mean building more prisons. And building more prisons meant spending billions of dollars. Conservatives, liberals, and libertarians were all appalled by the numbers. So much so, that they’re working together as the Texas Smart on Crime Coalition.
“States have been and will continue to be the laboratory of democracy, and Texas has really embraced that,” says Kate Trammell, senior state campaign manager for Prison Fellowship®.
Find out more about the coalition and how criminal justice reform groups are prepared to move forward here at Business Insider.
Learn more about criminal justice reform in Texas and the efforts made by Prison Fellowship here.
THE FIRST OPIOID CRISIS INTERVENTION COURT OPENS IN BUFFALO
“I think our job as a judge is not to hurt people,” says Judge Craig Hannah. “It’s just to make sure they come out of here better than they came in.”
Judge Hannah presides over the nation’s first opioid court. Unlike other drug courts, the users who stand before Judge Hannah can get into treatment within hours of their arrest, rather than days.
The opioid court requires that users detox, stick to strict curfews, and check in with the judge every day for one month, NBC Nightly News reports. Since the court began on May 1, none of the 80 participants have overdosed.
Watch the video here. (NBC NIGHTLY NEWS)
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