#JusticeinPimaCounty: Week 55
With lawmakers having returned to the state Capitol and the legislative session fully underway, I have resumed educational discussions with lawmakers, sometimes on the very definition of Criminal Justice Reform. It helps to demonstrate that the policies we’re implementing here in Pima County are data- and outcomes-driven.
Using similar processes is how Texas and Oklahoma—traditionally, two states with extraordinarily high incarceration rates—passed significant, more humane, and fiscally-responsible justice legislation in recent years. It’s that same data that is driving my discussions with both Democratic and Republican state lawmakers here in Arizona, where passage of reform is so urgently needed in 2022. Justice simply cannot wait for yet another legislative session.
- This week, I spoke with Republicans who are interested in passing reforms to our system of cash bail, which keeps people charged with minor offenses in jail just because they can’t afford their way out and allows people who are charged with serious, violent offenses to get out of jail only because they have the financial means to post bond. I know that Republicans and Democrats can come together to get a bill passed, but justice can’t wait for the end of session. So we continue to train prosecutors on our internal policies and argue at Initial Appearances for release when the person arrested doesn’t pose a risk of ongoing harm to the community.
- I also spoke with Republicans about voter rights restoration for those with a conviction history, another area where we find common ground. In almost half the country, people with a conviction history can have their voting rights restored as soon as they’re released from prison; in Maine and Vermont, in fact, people have the right to vote *while* incarcerated. In AZ, however, people with a conviction history can lose their voting rights permanently, even after serving their time and completing community supervision, which the legislature can easily fix. But justice can’t wait, so in the meantime, we continue to host expungement clinics and work with Fresh Start, Int’l to help people fully restore their civil rights.
- And finally, on Thursday I reconvened a working group assembled by State Sen. Victoria Steele, bringing together the city prosecutor’s domestic violence unit with ours, led by Supervising Attorney Noelle Jensen to better serve victims of domestic violence and discuss how we can hold those who commit these offenses accountable while also not overpopulating our jails and prisons.
Removing barriers to social and economic prosperity for everyone is crucial, and I’m working with lawmakers to do just that. But I’m not waiting for them to take action.
Because justice can’t wait.
To be continued,
Laura
