Are More Criminal Justice Reforms on the Horizon in 2015?

2014 was a year, as many are, of modest steps forward and a few steps back in criminal justice reform. But the national focus on flaws in our criminal justice system could lead to stronger reforms in 2015.

The year proved to be a victory for those advocating for changes in drug laws. In November, voters in Oregon, Alaska, and Washington D.C. voted to legalize marijuana, while New York City Police officers will issue summonses in lieu of arrestfor possession of small amounts of marijuana — a marked shift from the nation’s mood in June of 1971 when President Richard Nixon officially declared a “war on drugs” and stated that drug abuse is “public enemy number one.”

The Justice Department took a big step forward this year by reforming overly harsh sentencing laws. At Attorney General Eric Holder’s request, the U.S. Sentencing Commission amended federal sentencing guidelines to reduce the average sentence length for most drug trafficking offenders by 18 percent. Additionally, Holder continued to advocate for “Smart on Crime” policies, which he describes as “a targeted effort to enhance the way we charge, sentence, and release individuals in order to end this country’s overreliance on incarceration and to promote efforts that give people the tools they need to return to their communities and lead better and more productive lives.”

2014 also saw legislative efforts to roll back America’s punitive criminal justice policies. Sens. Cory Booker (D-NJ) and Rand Paul (R-Kent.) introduced the REDEEM Act, which aims to keep juveniles out of the adult criminal justice system and incentives states to make it easier for formerly incarcerated adults to have their criminal records sealed. Sens. Dick Durbin’s (D-Ill.) and Mike Lee’s (R-Utah) also introduced legislation, the Smarter Sentencing Act, which received wide sponsorship in the Senate.

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