Sentencing Policy

JS Blog Post January 3, 2019

Stories Beyond Bars: A Daughter's Experience with a Father in Prison

Riley Hewko, Esq.

Two years ago, Patricia Allard and I wrote a Huffington Post blog highlighting a video of 8-year-old D.G's wish for her father’s transfer from a federal prison in Texas to one in Oregon. It seemed like it would take a miracle, but with the help of her community he was transferred last year. D.G. still can’t even think of the ultimate miracle— having her dad come home. 

This year I had the opportunity to chat with D.G. now 10-years-old about her thoughts on her dad’s incarceration, her most recent visit, and some advice for young people in her situation. You can listen to the interview here.

JS Blog Post December 21, 2018

Video Released #SurvivorsSpeak Out on Criminal Justice Policy Change in Florida

Riley Hewko, Esq.

Today, Crime Survivors for Safety and Justice released a video from their Survivor’s Speak Florida 2018. Hundreds of survivors of violent crime gathered together in Tallahassee, FL at the state capitol to advocate for increased investments in trauma recovery, prevention and rehabilitation over more prisons and jails. Read more »

JS Blog Post November 23, 2018

Save your Black Friday Spending to Instead Support Children of Incarcerated Parents for #Giving Tuesday

Riley Hewko, Esq.

Every year, on the Tuesday after Thanksgiving #GivingTuesday provides individuals an alternative to spending their money on “Black Friday.” This year consider staying away from companies that support the prison industry and instead donate to organizations helping children of incarcerated parents. The U.S has approximately 7 million people in prison, jail, probation or parole, 100,000 in juvenile detention, 478,000 in immigration detention.

JS Blog Post November 12, 2018

Veterans Day Focus: Incarcerated Veteran Parents

Riley Hewko, Esq.

On this Veteran’s Day 2018, as we honor our military veterans, it seemed appropriate to look at resources for incarcerated veterans who may have left children behind as they serve their sentences. Given the criminalization of living with addiction, mental health, and disabilities, former members of the US military often find themselves in trouble with the law. A study by RAND institute found that almost a third of people who survived combat in wars since 9/11 suffer from “invisible wounds,” such as a mental health condition or traumatic brain injury (TBI). This concern has led to the development of veteran’s courts, with the one criticism being that they are misapplied justice, as all people entering the justice system should receive similar support. A second criticism is that they are not provided to veterans who have committed violent or sexual assault crimes.

JS Blog Post October 27, 2018

The Family First Prevention Services Act Offers Support for Children of Incarcerated Parents

Riley Hewko, Esq.

Last spring, groundbreaking legislation, The Family First Prevention Services Act (“FFPSA”), was signed into law as part of the Bipartisan Budget Act allowing states to use federal funding to help keep families together and avoid out of home foster care placement entirely. Specifically, the legislation changes the way that Title IV-E funds can be spent by states by allowing funds to be used for prevention services that help keep kids at home or with their relatives. Prevention services include for example, mental health and substance abuse prevention and treatment services, in-home skill-based parenting programs, foster care maintenance payments for children with parents in residential family-based substance abuse treatment facilities, and payments for kinship navigator programs.

JS Blog Post October 5, 2018

Study Update: Recent Study Shows Negative Public Health Impacts for Children with Histories of Parental Incarceration and Need for Decarceration Strategies

Riley Hewko, Esq.

A recent study confirms that incarceration is one of the major public health challenges of our time, not only for the people experiencing incarceration, but for children left behind. The study by Nia Heard-Garris MD et al, “Health Care Use and Health Behaviors Among Young Adults with History of Parental Incarceration,” found that young adults with histories of parental incarceration are less likely to use health care and more likely to engage in unhealthy behaviors compared with peers without parental incarceration. Such findings urge policy makers to reduce incarceration rates and help children maintain contact with their incarcerated parents. Read more »

JS Blog Post August 28, 2018

United States Sentencing Commission - 2018-2019 Public Priorities Selection

Patricia Allard

Dear colleagues: 

  Read more »

JS Blog Post August 27, 2018

United States Sentencing Commission - Public Affairs – Priorities Comment

Patricia Allard

The Honorable William H. Pryor, Jr., Acting Chair

United States Sentencing Commission

1 Columbus Circle, NE, Suite 2-500, South Lobby

Washington, DC 20002-8002

August 10, 20018

 

Attn: Public Affairs – Priorities Comment

 

Dear Judge Pryor:

 

The undersigned applaud the Commission’s consideration of conducting “a study of the operation of §5H1.6 (Family Ties and Responsibilities with respect to the loss of caretaking or financial support of minors” as part of its policy priorities for the amendment cycle 2018-2019.  Recent research documenting the harmful impact of parental incarceration on children, as well as a growing interest from policymakers and practitioners to mitigate the long-term harms to children and their communities suggests that the time is ripe for research and policy reform to provide alternatives to incarceration for parents in consideration of their children’s needs.

  Read more »

News Article The Huffington Post July 6, 2018

More Democrats Want To Abolish ICE. Decriminalize Migration? Not So Much.

This article by Huffington Post reporter Roque Planas quotes Justice Strategies’ Executive Director Judith Greene, pointing out that at the root of the current family separation crisis is the criminalization of migration itself.  The article recounts the origins of this practice to a 1929 law introduced by South Carolina Senator Coleman Livingston Blease and embedded in the anti-Mexican and segregationist legacy of the times.  Despite calls from current day Congressional Democrats to end the Trump Administration’s practice of family separation, few are willing to call for an end to the racially charged practice of criminalizing migration.

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