JRI State Reform Strategies, Preliminary Outcomes, and Lessons Learned

• In Event: Reforming Sentencing and Corrections Policy: The Experience of Justice Reinvestment States

Abstract

The Justice Reinvestment Initiative (JRI) has been at the forefront of sentencing and corrections reform over the past seven years. To date, 28 JRI states have undertaken a data-driven approach to identifying the most significant drivers of prison population growth and crafting and implementing policy solutions to address them. This paper will summarize findings from the Urban Institute’s second, comprehensive state assessment report which captures outcomes of state-level JRI activities through May 31, 2016. The discussion provides an overview of JRI; summarizes the policy reforms JRI states have enacted to reform sentencing, pretrial, release, and community supervision practices; and presents findings to date across states on prison population reduction, cost savings, and reinvestment.

Authors

• Samantha Harvell, Urban Institute

• Jeremy Welsh-Loveman, The Urban Institute