Voters to Weigh in on Marijuana Legalization, Police Funding, and Other Issues
With the upcoming election in November, voters in several states will have the opportunity to vote on several ballot initiatives that are designed to allow the public to have their voices heard on issues related to the criminal justice system. Some of these ballot items reflect a shift back to a “tough-on-crime” stance, such as a proposition in California that would roll back some of their progressive reforms by turning some current misdemeanors, such as certain theft and drug crimes, back into felonies that carry longer prison sentences. Colorado has similar a proposition on the ballot that would increase time inmates spent in jail before they are eligible for parole, and voters in Arizona will weigh in on the creation of a new felony charge, “sale of lethal fentanyl” in an effort to crack down on the sale of the fentanyl that have led to an increase in overdoses around the country. “Most of the ballot measures that we were voting on in 2020 were more progressive in nature in terms of reducing penalties. And now we’re really seeing a reaction to that,” says Lauren Bonds, executive director of the National Police Accountability Project. Indeed, several states are weighing measures that would either increase police funding or add new avenue streams for police and other first responders to increase retention and benefits of law enforcement. Along with these measures are several referendums on legalizing marijuana, with Florida, North Dakota, and South Dakota residents to vote on whether those states should add themselves to the 24 other states that have legalized the drug in some capacity, though differences remain in what amounts, conduct, and the ability for an individual to grow marijuana is then legal across the states. While these progressive reforms around drug legalization remain popular, it will be interesting to see what effects these “tough-on-crime” bills will have on the national discourse about the criminal justice system should they pass with public support.
McHenry County State’s Attorney Calls Bail Reform “Abject Failure”
As we have previously covered, there has been controversy surrounding the so-called progressive criminal justice reforms in Illinois such as the SAFE-T Act in recent years. McHenry County State’s Attorney Patrick Kenneally called the bail reform an “abject failure” in a recent press release, claiming the county had seen a 30% rise in crime committed by people on pretrial release since the new system was implemented that favors pretrial release and only allows pretrial detention for certain crimes. “How is it possible for the jail population to increase along with the number of crimes being committed by those on pretrial release? Simply put, we are incarcerating the wrong people,” Kenneally said, pointing out that the county had experienced a rise in the county’s jail population and a large increase in defendants failing to appear for court. Matthew McLoughlin from the Illinois Network for Pretrial Justice, an organization that helped write the bill, said the numbers cited were misrepresentative of the reality in response to the State’s Attorney’s press release and argued the new system has been a success. What is clear is that criminal justice reform remains a controversial issue amongst voters across the United States and there will certainly be more opportunities for people to voice their opinions about what direction they would like to see their communities head.