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This Week in Criminal Justice

ISSUE 69 • June 13, 2021

Colorado Restructures Misdemeanor Laws

Chicago skylineJune 8th, Colorado Legislators passed Senate Bill 21-271. “Offense classifications and corresponding sentence lengths” are a primary driver of incarceration in Colorado, and SB 21-271 was created to alleviate the issue. The bill “removes the misdemeanor level 3 classification, combines the current two petty offense classifications into one category, and adds a civil infraction level to the state’s criminal code.” The bill will also reclassify some misdemeanors as felonies, and some felonies as misdemeanors. The bill received support from the bulk of the state’s district attorneys and now heads to the desk of Governor Polis where it is expected to be signed. The changes will go into effect on March 1, 2022.

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Virginia Sets New Probation Standards

Chicago skylineJune 10th, Governor Ralph Northam signed HB 2038. Effective July 1st, the bill restricts “the amount of ‘active incarceration’ a court can impose for violations to a person's probation terms.” Courts will be required to "measure any period of suspension of sentence from the date of entry of the original sentencing order."  The bill also places limits on the amount of time individuals can be placed on supervised probation. Under the bill, probation sentences for felony charges will be a max of five years and one year for misdemeanor charges. Until the passage of HB 2038, Virginia was one of seven states that did not specify active incarceration lengths or provide an incarceration framework for minor probation infractions.

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Delaware Senate Passes Cash Bail Bill  

Chicago skylineThe Delaware Senate passed Senate Bill 7 on June 10th and the bill now heads to the House. If passed, the bill would make secured cash bail the baseline pretrial release standard for 38 violent offenses. The offenses “include the most serious violent felonies, as well as certain gun crimes, sex crimes involving children and certain domestic violence offenses.” The bill would also dictate that individuals charged with these offenses surrender any firearms while awaiting trial. Senator Spiros Mantzavinos who co-sponsored the bill stated, “This is a bill about public safety, because we’ve all heard stories about lenient bail rulings for violent or repeat offenders.”

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Resources

Webinar: How the American Rescue Plan (ARP) Helps Criminal Justice Stakeholders Respond to Behavioral Health Crises

This webinar is hosted by the Council of State Governments Justice Center, the BJA, and the Center for Health Care Strategies. The webinar will “introduce local criminal justice stakeholders to ways that ARP funding can help support collaborative crisis and early diversion responses to reduce criminal justice contact for people with behavioral health needs.” The speakers will highlight ways to “access new opportunities, ensure that resources reach the people who need them most, and form effective partnerships.”

Date: June 15
Time: 11:30 AM  - 12:45 PM ET

Register For Webinar
 

Brief: Using Trauma-Informed Restorative Justice with Youth

The Council of State Governments Justice Center has released a new brief exploring the impact of trauma-informed restorative justice for youth. The brief outlines “how juvenile justice stakeholders can support restorative justice approaches to minimize youth involvement in the juvenile justice system and potentially address their behavioral health needs while also preserving public safety.”

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In-Depth

Community Supervision Challenges for Populations with SUD

Chicago skylineProviding community supervision to individuals who are dealing with substance use disorder (SUD) can be a significant challenge for states and local jurisdictions. The Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) and the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) created the Comprehensive Opioid, Stimulant, and Substance Abuse Program (COSSAP) to help tackle the challenge. COSSAP recently released a brief exploring common challenges faced by states and community supervision programs when serving populations dealing with SUD. The challenges are numerous, but each fell into three main categories.
 
One: “Addressing divergent views on public safety risks through cross-agency coordination and partnership.”
 
A roundtable of state officials noted that public safety is often defined differently by corrections and behavioral health stakeholders. The different definitions can lead to difficulty communicating and impede program success through a lack of coordination.
 
Two: “Ensuring access to community-based SUD treatment.”
 
While many states have expanded and implemented SUD treatment programs in facilities, ensuring SUD care in the community continues to be problematic. The brief identifies two main challenges. One, “for individuals released from a facility to community supervision, there is often a delay in connection to treatment upon entering the community,” increasing the risk of relapse, overdose, and other risky behaviors. Two, many people are sentenced directly to probation; however, not all probation programs are efficiently equipped to screen and assess for SUD leading to treatment gaps.
 
Three: “Implementing evidence-based practices for community supervision that align with SUD treatment goals.”
 

Chicago skylineThe brief authors assert that “implement[ing] evidence-based supervision practices that align requirements with treatment goals” remains a pressing need and that “understanding the unique needs of individuals with SUD” has proven to be a challenge for many supervision programs. Adding, that this issue is exacerbated for programs serving marginalized communities where access to treatment options can be limited.
 
The brief also explored opportunities states and programs could implement to address the challenges. The opportunities discussed included:
 

  1. Increasing Cross-Agency Coordination
  2. Addressing Funding Gaps by Braiding and Blending Federal and State Funds
  3. Leveraging Grant Resources and Looking to Innovative Strategies
  4. Identifying Treatment Gaps and Utilizing Innovative Strategies for Treatment Access
  5. Aligning Supervision Policies and Practices With Treatment Goals 
At the end of the brief, COSSAP notes they have Resource Center with “additional resources on these topics and opportunities for technical assistance and support.”
 

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Worth a Watch

Seal of the Texas Office of Court AdministrationAs courts adjust to operating post-pandemic, some will continue to offer hybrid hearings. In this NCSC Tiny Chat, learn more about the types of hybrid hearings, when they are useful, and tips on how to make them effective.

Watch NOW

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