Imprisonment is a brutal and costly response to violations or possible violations that traumatizes incarcerated people and hurts families and communities.
It should be the last option, not the first. Yet the U.S. incarcerates more people, in both absolute numbers and per capita, than any other nation in the world.
The ACLU Campaign for Smart Justice is working in all 50 states for reforms to usher in a new era of justice in America. During the 2018 state legislative sessions, the ACLU worked with at least 2,394 volunteers and more than 43,000 ACLU supporters took action to advance Smart Justice, helping result in the passage of over a hundred new criminal justice reform bills across the country. Smart Justice is fighting in the legislatures, the courts, in the voting booth, and in the streets to end mass incarceration by addressing:
- Sentencing Reform: We must reduce both the number of people entering jails and prisons and the extreme laws and policies that drive extraordinarily long prison terms.
- Prosecutorial Reform: Prosecutors are the most influential actors in the criminal justice system. And across the country these mostly elected officials work towards convictions, not justice. We’re challenging prosecutorial abuse in the courts and legislatures and through voter education.
- Parole and Release: Hundreds of thousands of people—including those convicted of violent and non-violent crimes—stay in prison for too long because of broken parole and release systems.
- Re-entry: Each year, 650,000 men and women nationwide return from prison to their communities. Yet the challenges do not end once the prison bars are lifted. They face nearly 50,000 federal, state and local legal restrictions that make it difficult to reintegrate back into society.
