Fireside Chat, Panel
First Step, and Not the Last: Criminal Justice Reform
Milken InstituteNicholas Kristof, Phil Bryant, Susan Burton, Mark Holden, Valerie Jarrett, Nicholas Turner, Clara Wu Tsai, Nick Turner
- Susan Burden anticipates that providing support for women exiting the criminal justice system to reunite with children will prevent recidivism and suffering, planning to train others to replicate reentry projects modeled after A New Way of Life.
- Governor Phil Bryant plans to shift individuals from prison to parole, specifically targeting the elderly, youth who committed crimes before age 15, and those who have served 15 years, while utilizing technology like cell phones and FaceTime for monitoring.
- Bryant intends to replace funding for mass supervision with re-entry programs addressing mental health and workforce preparation, and plans to eliminate debtor's prisons by establishing manageable payment plans such as $10 a month.
- Bryant expects legislation to expand parole board access, predict a "fresh start act" that expunges non-violent records, restores driver's licenses, and prevents disqualification from professional licenses, noting that 85% of the incarcerated population faces mental or emotional problems.
- Bryant and Mark Holden anticipate that the First Step Act serves as a significant but incomplete step toward reform, with Holden expecting it to have benefited nearly 1,000 people and predict it makes the system more redemptive.
- Nick Turner expects the First Step Act to have marginal substantive consequences regarding the prison intake funnel, describing it as a prison reform bill with limited sentencing changes signed in December with bipartisan support.
- Turner expects the 1994 crime bill introduced 100,000 officers, notes that the federal system touches only the tip of the iceberg compared to state levels, and highlights a disparity where Germany incarcerates at one-tenth the US rate with 20-year maximum life sentences compared to US life sentences.
- Clara Wu expects mass supervision to be a primary driver of incarceration, citing that 47% of people on parole and probation in New York State return to prison, and plans to advocate for early childhood education and school policy reforms to improve economic mobility.
- Wu expects the current system to trap individuals in lower socioeconomic statuses and destabilize families, while Kristof expects reducing lead exposure and improving home visitation programs to be effective methods for early intervention before children encounter the justice system.
- Holden projects that prison education programs reduce future incarceration costs by six to seven dollars for every dollar spent and lower recidivism rates by approximately 50%, while arguing that mandatory minimums and the war on drugs were wasteful.
- Holden expects that cash bail should be risk-based rather than resource-based and anticipates that supporting Amendment Four in Florida regarding voting rights is a necessary step after debt to society is paid.
- Kristof expects data showing the US spends three to four times more per capita on incarceration than on K-12 education and anticipates that the "fresh start act" will allow individuals to secure jobs without driver's licenses or non-violent records.
- Multiple speakers expect that comprehensive criminal justice reforms will result in lower crime rates, significant cost savings, and the saving of lives, with Bryant and Holden anticipating that governors will remain committed to reform for the "salvation" of communities.
- Kristof expects a consensus across the political spectrum to implement a toolbox of tested solutions on a broad national basis, though Turner warns against underinvesting in safe communities, quality education, and social safety nets.
- Holden expects that ignoring the one-third of the applicant pool with criminal records is detrimental business strategy, noting his company, Koch Industries, has hired people with records for 24 years.
- Turner expects that the US has 200,000 people serving life sentences and anticipates that addressing the generational waste of prison time requires accelerating work on criminal justice reform.