Champaign HRC and NAACP Report

This week's Human Relations Commission meeting (agenda here) included a presentation of the NAACP report on criminal justice. Thomas Moore argued that the report is an educational tool as opposed to a road map and what we've tried over the past forty years hasn't worked. He argued for a new focus on the ineffectiveness of punishment in the system of mass incarceration. He noted that jails are a big part of the problem and a local issue. Video is available here and the NAACP report begins at the 6:20 mark. There were many ideas discussed and listed in the News-Gazette yesterday:

Among the suggestions discussed during Monday's meeting:

— Allowing those incarcerated to register to vote and cast votes while in prison.

— When drawing up legislative district boundaries, assigning prisoners to the locality they come from instead of the prison site.

— Advocating for more humane policies that stress restorative justice.

— Having the NAACP form a partnership with local libraries to develop a crime-and-punishment bibliography and establishing a repository of books and articles on incarceration, public safety and justice.

— Advocating for the collection of data on the justice system "to develop more grounded responses to crime and punishment."

— Developing justice reform that gives a prominent role to the faith community.

— Exploring programs that restore civil rights for those incarcerated and awaiting trial.

— Developing a pretrial-assessment protocol in Champaign County.

— Integrating restorative practices within both the Champaign Unit 4 and Urbana 116 school districts.

Full article here. One item not mentioned in this list was their support of the recommendations of the Racial Justice Task Force (more information on that here). Some of the discussion talked about mass incarceration being a new Jim Crow which references a study of the mass incarceration system that looks at disparities throughout the criminal justice system. More information on that information and popular book in criminal justice reform circles here.