PRISON FELLOWSHIP BLOG: Sentencing Reform and Corrections Act

Ronal Sherpas identifies himself as a conservative, law-and-order type. The current professor of criminology at Loyola University in New Orleans previously served as police chief in both Nashville and New Orleans, and has spent over 34 years in law enforcement.

But when it comes to creating an effective strategy to reduce crime, Sherpas’ approach to reducing crime might not be what most people would imagine from a “tough on crime” career police officer.

A new criminal justice reform organization recently surveyed 800 people who have been the victims of violent or property crime in the last 10 years, asking them their opinions on issues surrounding incarceration and alternative sentencing. The answers received reveal quite a bit about the depth of support for justice reform.

Efforts to bring about criminal justice reforms on the federal level have hit upon a bit of a rough patch in recent weeks. With the focus in Washington shifting toward the general elections in November, some members of Congress have determined that maintaining a “tough on crime” approach to criminal justice is beneficial to their reelection efforts, while others have opted to back-burner the issue until their campaigns have concluded.

When another man confessed to the string of murders for which Davontae Sanford had been convicted, he felt that his long nightmare was over.

Arrested at age 14, Sanford had spent nine years in the Michigan corrections system. Now, with his conviction overturned, it appeared that he could once again return to his community and begin to piece his life together again.

By the time he was 21, Jason Hernandez was already serving a life sentence in a federal prison. Arrested for running a 50-person drug distribution ring he inherited when his older brother J.J. was sent to prison, Hernandez figured he would be out and back on the streets within 24 hours.

Prisons, encircled by high walls topped with razor wire, seem to be closed worlds.

It’s easy to keep them out of sight and out of mind. Since prisons are so remote from most people’s daily lives, it can be difficult to recognize the humanity of the men and women inside and to value their rehabilitation and restoration.

UPDATE: The Senate Judiciary Committee passed the Sentencing and Corrections Act of 2015 on October 22 by a vote of 15 to 5.  The bill now advances to the full Senate for approval.  To contact your Senator to encourage their vote in support of the legislation, click here.