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Critical Essay Reflection
This is a piece written for my Women Studies class I would like to share here.
The lesson this week, Feminist Public Policy- Gender & Poverty, offered astonishing information for me that I was never educated on before. I was always aware of the rising poverty epidemic and I was not sure of who the main demographic was that was primarily affected by it, I always figured it was mainly people of color. I was shocked to come to learn in this week’s lecture that those affected the most by poverty is women, but especially women of color and single mothers. I found it interesting that I continuously saw a similar statement through all the readings, which was that being in poverty was subjected to being equated to being lazy, unemployed or criminal behavior; and if I’m being honest when I was younger, I thought this as well.
I really was intrigued by this topic and how it is associated to being a feminist issue and I wanted to become more well educated on in the financial struggles’ women are faced with. I feel this lesson helped me learn of all the work, societal and economic hurdles they are faced with to escape poverty and establish a life for them. The way welfare and government public policies are set up kind of makes it inevitable for women and even LGBTQ people to dig themselves out of this deep hole. It is also interesting to see that we acknowledge women being the main victims of poverty and labeling it the feminization of poverty but there is so little effort to help them out of it.
In this paper I am going to focus on how public policies and the gender gap in the workplace affect women, especially those considered outsiders of society such as women of color and LGBTQ+ community.
It is important that I first address the statistics of the demographic affected by poverty so I can emphasize who the biggest victims are. According to this week’s lecture, it is stated that worldwide 70 percent of the poor are women, and to breakdown this percentage, 21.4 percent of US Black women, 22.8 percent of US Native Americans, 18.7 percent of US Latinas and 10.7 percent of US Asian women live in poverty. We see more women of color than white women face difficulties with poverty because of institutional racism that is extremely persistent in our country to this day. This institutional racism results in lower wages, less job opportunities, unfair treatment in the workplace, more health challenges and less educational opportunities that impact their ability to make do with a fair, livable wage. According to the article, “Poverty, Gender and Public Policies” by Cynthia Hess and Stephanie Roman, poverty rates don’t do the numbers we are shown justice and much more women of color and single mothers are suffering than we know. In the 1960s, the Federal poverty threshold was established and adjusted for inflation within the government “but not for increases in widely accepted living standards and, therefore, does not accurately measure the resources needed to avoid economic hardship” (Hess and Roman). Based on this threshold, the proportion of women who face economic hardship is much higher than calculated.
Like I mentioned before, a main cause of women of color facing more poverty is because of strong institutional racism. For example, the roles of African American women in society since slavery have always connotated that these women are meant to hold low wage, domestic and service jobs. African American were in the workforce primarily as low-wage caregivers for white families, which helped secured the well-being of white families. According to the article “Black Women’s Labor Market History Reveals Deep-Seated Race and Gender Discrimination” by Nina Banks, “The state would simultaneously undermine the well-being of black families by denying black mothers the cash assistance that they needed to support their children and leaving black women with no other option but to work for very low wages”, African American women were set up to fail and cannot even acquire help from their own government. Black women have also been left vulnerable to workplace exploitation by excluding them from various worker protections. African American women and many other women of color are eligible for public benefits but “usually do not receive the support they qualify for due to complicated application and eligibility determination process, lack of transportation and inconvenient appointment times to complete the application process” (Hess & Roman). It was also found that only 36 percent of families with children in poverty received TANF benefits (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families). It is horrible to see the government showing little care for these struggling families, creating welfare that they know will not even make a difference.
LGBTQ+ members also face extreme workplace discrimination and receive significantly lower salaries than their heterosexual counterparts. Many LGBTQ workers have left their jobs because of how unwelcoming the work environment was. In this week’s reading of the book Gendered Voices Feminist Visions by Susan M. Shaw and Janet Lee, in the article by Anne Swartz titled, “This is the Hidden Financial Cost of Being an LGBTQ American Today” it was mentioned Federal law does not cover gender identity and sexual orientation, which means private companies have the right to choose who can receive benefits and who cannot. According to a study in that article it was found that lesbians made more than $5,000 less than straight women, bisexual women made about $15,000 less; in my opinion sexual orientation should have no say on how much you get paid for your job, if you are working hard. I think to myself that it is so hard to believe that race and sexual orientation can have such detrimental effects on their economic status.
A question I would like to pose is this, how can big businesses, the government and even society make changes to create better policies and even bring more awareness to our society on the uprise of women of color in poverty and workplace discrimination?
To give a partial answer to this question is in connection with previous lessons and looking at this term gender gap. The gender gap is the discrepancy in opportunities, status, and attitudes between men and women. In the workplace it is imperative to start paying women and men equally for doing the same jobs, and even paying women of different races the same wages. By closing the wage gap, we would see a decline in the number of women suffering from poverty. Closing the gender gap is not easy and will take time but corporations and businesses can start within by promoting change in how they and other workers treat women. For example, another article part of Gendered Voices Feminist Visions, the article “Which Country Will Be the First to Close the Gender Gap- and How” by Vesselina Stefanova Ratcheva and Saadia Zahidi, there were examples of successful companies introducing more internal measurement and monitoring of the gender gap. Some effective interventions “have ranged from legislation promoting non-discrimination in hiring, appropriate paternity leave, child subsidies & tax credit, gender neutral taxation for families and quotas in economic and political life” (Ratcheva & Zahidi). Other companies are trying to create a safe workplace environment by developing awareness and accountability among senior staff and provide training on understanding biases in management. By creating a safe workplace and closing the gender gap, it will encourage more people to stick with their jobs and promote good work, leading to them not having to quit and file for unemployment and live off welfare.
By establishing better public policies, closing the gender gap and offering a safe workplace environment, we can move towards a society of diminishing poverty and equality in compensation. Both women of color and LGBTQ+ community face a number of hurdles now, slowly but surely, we are seeing a change.
Bibliography
“Poverty, Gender, and Public Policies.” Institute for Women’s Policy Research. Feb.2016. Web. 1 Nov 2020. https://iwpr.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/D505-Poverty-Gender-and- Public-Policies.pdf
“Black Women’s Labor Market History Reveals Deep-Seated Race and Gender Discrimination” Economic Policy Institute. 19 Feb 2019. Web. 1 Nov 2020. https://www.epi.org/blog/black-womens-labor-market-history-reveals-deep-seated- race-and-gender-discrimination/
“Which Country Will Be the First to Close the Gender Gap- and How”. Gendered Voices Feminist Visions. 2016.
“This is The Hidden Financial Cost of Being an LGBTQ American Today”. Gendered Voices Feminist Visions. 2017.
Intro to my e-portfolio
I am really excited for this semester to be over, but just as equally excited for our last project. This project seems like a great opportunity to show off our best qualities and share what we are most passionate and caring about. I like that we have the chance to have full creative design over our website and that this will be here for anyone to find.
For my project, the website platform I think I will be using to develop my site will be Wix. I am still in between Wix and Word Press, since Word Press is more like our Penn State sites where you have to put in your credentials. But I am going to lean more towards Wix because I have heard from a majority of my peers that this is easy to navigate, but the only thing I am hesitant about is not being able to change the design if I don’t like it later on. I also read the Wix vs. Weebly article and it seemed that the author was suggesting to users to utilize Wix over Weebly. I don’t think I would prefer Weebly either because it is more design template based and I know I won’t be going overboard on the design of this website.
For my e-portfolio, I will be focusing on the topic of things I have been reading a writing about recently, which circulates around the theme of advocacy. I have done a lot of pieces based on advocating for simple human rights such as around criminal justice reform, sexual assault reform and health and wellness change. I want my website to resemble how much I care about the common decency we all deserve as human beings and how passionate I am to bring about a positive change in anyone’s life. I’m not sure who I would like my audience for this website to be, either my friends or a future employer would suffice. The tabs i plan to incorporate into the site include a home one, with general information about myself, a page explaining my passions while highlighting my artifacts, a page for my extracurriculars in the past and while I am here at Penn State, and a tab for my résumé. I don’t want to make my site look to busy so I think I am set on the amount of tabs I will include. The color scheme I think I would like to incorporate is green, white and blue or pink possibly.
April 22/Off to Somewhere a Little Warmer
Last post I had discussed a vacation to Iceland, which was more on the colder side of suggestions I could’ve given. Since warm weather is approaching, the place I would love to visit and suggest to you all is Antigua. Antigua is one of the two major islands that make up the Caribbean nation of Antigua and Barbuda. Antigua is ringed with coral reefs and known for its sandy beaches. Over 22,000 natives live in the capital, St. Johns, which is situated in the north-west and has a deep harbor which is able to accommodate large cruise ships. The population of Antigua is 80,161 and is growing. A flight out of New York to Antigua would be roughly around seven or eight hours. Antigua is prone to receiving hurricanes and the official hurricane is July to November; this coincides with the best time to visit which would be June to August. The risk of enduring a hurricane is really low, so at most you would run into a tropical storm. But prices are lower during hurricane season so it is a great time to travel and you may be able to see turtles nesting along the beach. Antigua has highest temperatures in July and minimal precipitation.
Antigua is a great place to visit because of the historic sites, cuisine and lively cultural scene all around the island. But there is beauty and versatility of the island’s 365 beaches; you can find a party in the sand, shallow water for children and a place to get a great tan. Most of the popular beaches include Galley Bay Beach, for surfing, Half Moon Bay, for those who like peace and quiet, and Dickerson Bay, supposedly the island’s best. If you are tired or bored from all that lounging around at the beach, you can take out those hiking boots and head over to Shirley Heights; the admission fee is $8.00 and the best time to trek this trail is early in the morning so you can beat the heat. To educate yourself on the island’s culture you can head over to Nelson’s Dockyard, a former sugar plantation where you’ll find a museum detailing the island’s colonial past. Some Antiguan cuisine finds to give a try are conch, a popular shellfish used in chowders, Ducana, a side dish which has the appearance of a tamale but is wrapped in banana leaf, and Fungee; the national dish of Antigua, similar to polenta and usually served with stews or meats and plated alongside saltfish. The top restaurants to try to and check out are Stella Ristorante, The Cove Restaurant and Fred’s Belgian Waffles and Ice cream.
Antigua is a beautiful island with a lot to offer to a variety of tourists and I hope to get to go there one day!
April 15// Off to Iceland
Now we are traveling to Iceland! Iceland is a Nordic Island nation and has a vast geographic landscape with volcanoes, geysers, hot springs and lava fields; it is also known as the land of fire and ice. The capital is Reykjavik and is also the largest city, the surrounding area is the southwest of the country and is home to over two-thirds of the population. Iceland is a generally a cold location and doesn’t ever have temperatures go above fifty degrees Fahrenheit, the best time to travel to Iceland if you prefer warmer temperatures is in June, July and August; the colder temperatures are during December, January and February. The long summer days have a near 24 hours of sunshine and are offset by short winter days with only a few hours of daylight. While walking around the streets or nature trails of Iceland you will be sure to see Icelandic sheep, arctic fox, Icelandic horses and sheepdog. If you are flying into the capital city from New York it will be a nonstop flight for 9 hours and 10 mins , but other places could endure two stops and almost 20 hours and 10 minutes on the plane. Iceland also currently ranks as the third most expensive country in the world.
Now on to some sights to see and things to do during your trip. Iceland is definitely a place for outdoor enthusiasts so I really only encourage you to spend your money on this if you will participate in these activities. One of the most talked about, relaxing activities tourists love to take part in are geothermal pools and spas in Iceland. Geothermal pools are a local natural wonder that are heated on its own. The most famous of these is the Blue Lagoon, located in the lava field of Reykjanes Peninsula, with a geothermal beach of white sands and warm ocean water. Another noteworthy sight to see are The Northern Lights, the phenomenon of the Aurora Borealis is shown between September and April, even though those are some of the coldest months. There is no ideal location to see this, it all depends on weather conditions. Another more energetic activity is the horses of Iceland, they are a unique breed of small horses and is a great way to explore unspoiled nature and is a few minutes outside of Reykjavik. More active activities to take part in are caving, cycling, helicopter tours and motorized adventure. Some national parks to also take a look at are Vatnajokull, which holds beautiful glaciers and Pingvellir which has beautiful canyons and foliage.
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Advocacy Project Paragraphs
One of the ideas I have for my advocacy project is looking further into Penn State’s healthy food options that are on campus. I have not yet done any statistical research to see how it affects students, but from mine and peer perspectives, the food options present on campus are a pressing issue each and every single day. I am someone who really likes to watch what I eat and am always looking for good healthy food in my reach. The audience I would be targeting would be either the Penn State Administration to invest in different health options or Penn State University’s Food Services, so they could look to change up the dining hall menu or add more vegetables, healthy entrees and starches to it. I think this is something to advocate for and would reach a large group that is also affected by this because making generally poor eating choices leads to students being lethargic and not producing the best work. Eating poorly also leads to bad habits and mental health issues. It is nice that the salad bar but it is just simply not feasible to keep getting a salad everyday; or having to uber eats and spend extra money on food that is not campus that is healthier and then students end up with a turbulent amount of meal points left.
Deciding what is ethical is dependent on what you define as ethical, which may vary for many. It depends on the relationship with the person you are trying to persuade and on the nature of the belief and or behavior that you are hoping to change. I think the “Photograph as Witness: A Portrait of Domestic Violence” can be a piece of art or a piece oof advocacy based on how you look at it, but from my perspective I see it as more a piece of advocacy. The piece was ethical because it collected evidence with consent, was constructed and published in a proper way. The author made the issue seem urgent and important but also did not dramatize it in any way. The outcome as stated by Maggie was to bring more awareness to domestic abuse and I think that can be achieved through ethical communication. Some audience members could view this argument as being manipulative rather than persuasive because it could paint all men as being the bad guy; but still in my opinion it is an issue that isn’t visibly shared. It doesn’t really go the extra mile to make an appeal to change to a policy, which would really make the difference.
April 8th post; Get Ready For a Mardi Gras Party…
Last post I brought you guys somewhere that was nearly on the other side of the world, today I am deciding to stay a little more local which would be within the United States, that is the famous New Orleans. New Orleans is located in Louisiana on the Mississippi River and the Gulf of Mexico. It is a city known for its outrageous nightlife, live music scene and cuisine that represents African, French and American culture. The historic heart of the city is the French Quarter, known for its Spanish and French architecture and vibrant nightlife occurs on Bourbon Street. The French colonists founded New Orleans in 1718 and was the largest city in the American South from the Antebellum Period to after World War 2. The city is extremely vulnerable to flooding due to high rainfall, low elevation and poor drainage. New Orleans is a relatively very warm place so if you are looking to visit not during the hottest months I suggest traveling in March, April, May, September, October and November. There are numerous transportation options such as streetcars (preferable for traveling downtown), buses, ferries, taxis and even bicycling. Even though New Orleans is a city environment and that may not be preferable to everyone, there is also some nature exhibits not too far from the central city, there is definitely something for everyone.
I would 100% recommend staying at a hotel in the French Quarter because then you are really in the heart of all the nightlife, bars and great restaurants. A renowned restaurant in the area that many tourists attend is in the French market called Cafe Du Monde, which is famous for their cafe au lait and beignets. A bunch of New Orleans dishes I would make sure to try before leaving are gumbo, jambalaya, etouffee and red beans and rice( a Louis Armstrong favorite). For a more historical route of your trip I suggest checking out The Historic New Orleans Collection, New Orleans Museum of Art and close to the Treme community check out the New Orleans Jazz National Historic Park and New Orleans African American Museum. For nature lovers there is the Audubon Nature Institute which consists of Audubon Park and zoo and home to gardens which include Longue Vue House and Gardens and New Orleans Botanical Garden. Mardi Gras is a huge festival that is celebrated on the last Tuesday before the Christian season of Lent . There are also a bunch of music festivals held there including New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival, Voodoo Experience and Essence Music Festival. New Orleans is such a diverse area to visit with many things to do no matter who you are traveling with. I hope I get to go there soon in this lifetime and I hope you all do too.
Issue Brief Draft
It is known world wide that the United States is known for having the highest mass incarceration rate since 2013 compared to all other countries, it has been hurting our status as a country and many citizens. This is an issue I believe not many Americans consider important because it does not effect them directly, unless they know a family or friend unjustly incarcerated. Or simply we are still a racially motivated country that has only 37% people of color making up the entire population but 67% of the prison population, is it fair to say this is due to current sentencing policies, implicit racial bias and socioeconomic inequity? Our country went through such a turbulent period to be “tough on crime” in the 80s which led to a dramatic growth in incarceration; but we are now seeing more people incarcerated now than during this time period in the 80s. Sentencing and prison reform is talked about occasionally and doesn’t receive a lot of media coverage but the problem is not getting any better. The following policy I propose will be in order to financially allocate money to sentencing and pre-trial reform state wide and addressing racial disparities in the courtroom. Every one deserves a fair fight and the correct amount of justice served.
Defining the Types of Reform and What Current Implications it Has
Criminal Justice reform is the broader, umbrella term that most of the other types of reforms I will be talking about fall under. Criminal justice reform can be defined as a way to end mass incarceration, which as mentioned before is the problem we are trying to combat through smaller nooks and crannies. Prison reform would fall under this and look to improve and fix conditions inside correctional facilities and improve the effectiveness of the penal system. The more in depth subcategories of reform I will be looking to implement change in are sentencing reform, pre-trial reform and post-conviction reform on a state wide level. The definition of sentencing reform includes the creation of The Sentencing Reform act which “(1) dropping rehabilitation as one of the goals of punishment; (2) creating the U.S. Sentencing Commission and charging it with establishing sentencing guidelines; (3) making all federal sentences determinate; and (4) authorizing appellate review of sentences.” (cite). This will come back later on, because even though this was enacted almost forty years ago, there has been minor change resulting from it. Pre- trial reform connects to sentencing reform as it ties in with the race and socioeconomic factor. As of right now, “Six out of 10 people in U.S. jails—nearly a half million individuals on any given day—are awaiting trial. People who have not been found guilty of the charges against them account for 95% of all jail population growth between 2000-2014.” (cite). Pre-trial reform would work to help individuals have financial help to receive lawyers or help their bail situation. Finally, post-conviction reform is the last piece of the puzzle to this mess and is involved in helping previously convicted individuals ” achieve relief based on new, non-DNA, evidence of innocence. The Innocence Project also advocate for laws that compensate innocent people for the harm experienced by wrongful conviction and incarceration.” (cite Innocence project). All three of these reforms will help give a little background knowledge of where we currently stand with solutions to the mass incarceration issue and leads to how new policy desperately needs to be implemented to make a change.
Who is Affected Primarily by Mass Incarceration
The Equal Justice Initiative, is a website that works to improve criminal justice reform such as death penalty, wrongful convictions, prison conditions, children in adult prisons and excessive punishment. This website and many others have stated that mass incarceration in our country currently disproportionately impacts the poor and people of color. The Sentencing Project does great research on statistics of who makes up the population of the mass incarcerated and they have stated that “people of color make up 37% of the U.S. population but 67% of the prison population.” (cite sentencing project). About one in every three African American man will face the likelihood of imprisonment and “black men are six times as likely to be incarcerated as white men and Hispanic men are more than twice as likely to be incarcerated as non-Hispanic white men.” (cite sentencing project). Women are less likely to be incarcerated than men, but even among them, women of color are more affected by incarceration than caucasian women. These statistics speak volume to the racial bias we have present when it comes to arrest, viewing cases and the effect people on the jury have.
(This is all I had time to write, let me know what else I should work on for the rest of it)
April 1 post/ In For the Long Haul
The next place I am choosing to persuade you all to look into visiting is Tokyo, it is definitely an extensive trip that requires a lot of traveling but is 100% worth the trip. I used to find Tokyo very off putting just because to get there is about a twenty-nine hour plane ride straight through, I could barely do seven hours to Italy! In ways I always thought Tokyo was just like New York City, with the bustling movement and big bright lights, but it contrasts in very different ways and definitely stands out. Tokyo is Japan’s and world’s most populous metropolis with a population of 9.273 million. The architecture in present-day Tokyo mixes the ultramodern and traditional, with neon-lit buildings but historic temples nearby. According to Travel U.S News, the best time to visit Tokyo is between March and April and September and November. The Autumn season brings great scenery of foliage and soothing temperatures; while the spring season has amazing foliage including world renowned cherry blossom trees. I would avoid traveling there in the summer due to the temperatures and it being peak tourist season. The best way to get around and navigate Tokyo is by the subway, it can take you anywhere in the city as soon as possible; the bus system can become confusing and taxis can become costly.
Even though Tokyo is an urban environment there are many diverse activities to take place in to make your trip super memorable. To learn about the history of Tokyo I recommend visiting the Tokyo National Museum or Edo-Tokyo Museum. To get an amazing overhead view of the city to see all its glimmering lights, take a trip over to Tokyo Tower or Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building. For some more historical sites, head over to Sensoji Temple and the spiritual Meji Shrine; Sensoji Temple is the oldest religious site in Tokyo and is dedicated to Asakusa Kannon, the Buddhist god of mercy and happiness. There are many guided walks and tours that may interest you as well, for example Mizumoto Park is Tokyo’s largest waterfront park that also offers family bike tours. Tokyo also has amazing diverse culture and food to explore and some unique customs to learn about. My recommendation would be to visit a great Soba restaurant to have some great soul food, but remember it is part of customs to take off your shoes and no food or drinks should be brought it. I hope one day, like all the other places, I get to see with my own eyes one day. But for now I will admire Tokyo’s beauty from a distance.
https://www.gotokyo.org/en/plan/diverse-culinary-culture/index.html
https://travel.usnews.com/Tokyo_Japan/Getting_Around/
Issue Brief Paragraph One
Title: Striking a Change in the Criminal Justice System
Introduction paragraph:
It is known world wide that the United States is known for having the highest mass incarceration rate since 2013 compared to all other countries, it has been hurting our status as a country and many citizens. This is an issue I believe not many Americans consider important because it does not effect them directly, unless they know a family or friend unjustly incarcerated. Or simply we are still a racially motivated country that has only 37% people of color making up the entire population but 67% of the prison population, is it fair to say this is due to current sentencing policies, implicit racial bias and socioeconomic inequity? Our country went through such a turbulent period to be “tough on crime” in the 80s which led to a dramatic growth in incarceration; but we are now seeing more people incarcerated now than during this time period in the 80s. Sentencing and prison reform is talked about occasionally and doesn’t receive a lot of media coverage but the problem is not getting any better. The following policy I propose will be in order to financially allocate money to sentencing and pre-trial reform state wide and addressing racial disparities in the courtroom. Every one deserves a fair fight and the correct amount of justice served.
In the Courtroom…
Last week I discussed the term clemency, the implications of it and how it is currently impacting some cases in the U.S. criminal justice system today. What I will be talking about in this post will sort of reflect what I will be diving into in my issue brief, practically an introduction, and this is that mass incarceration is skyrocketing due to poor sentence reform. The United States currently holds the highest incarceration rate in the world. I have seen so much recently in scholarly articles this statement of the United States having the highest incarceration rates and I want to find out why. This problem also ties into, like my previous post, is there is racial, gender and class bias in the courtroom that impacts the sentencing for the person standing trial. Offenders are just sitting in prison far longer than ever before and this is due to this sentencing reform.
Before the latest reform act that was put in place to alleviate this problem, there were two types of sentencings, determinate and indeterminate. People who would receive the indeterminate sentencing did not know the exact length of time they would serve; it was ultimately removed because it was perceived as promoting unwarranted disparity in sentences. Determinate sentencing is explicit standards specifying the amount of punishment and a set release date that is not subject to review by an administrative body; under this time served can also be reduced by good time or earned time. The sentencing reform act, part of the comprehensive crime control act of 1984, was a U.S federal statute intended to increase consistency in United States federal sentencing and was put into place by the United States Sentencing Commission. This was put in place, like I said before, to regulate what cases deserve which types of sentencing. There are four goals part of the sentencing reform act; one is dropping rehabilitation as one of the goals of punishment, two is creating the U.S sentencing commission and charging it with establishing sentencing guidelines, three is making all federal sentences determinate and fourth is authorizing appellate review of sentences. According to the EveryCRSReport.com, “establishing sentencing guidelines for federal judges, the Commission took into consideration factors such as (1) the nature and degree of harm caused by the offense; (2) the offender’s prior record; (3) public views of the gravity of the offense; (4) the deterrent effect of a particular sentence; and (5) aggravating or mitigating circumstances.” I think these guidelines are great to stick by and work off of when making decisions about sentences, but how do we end up veering away from these standards and guidelines?
Every state has their own rules, laws and opinions on what is constituted as a crime and how punishable it is. For example, one state could see drug dealing as a crime that deserves life in prison while another can view it as something that only deserves 15-25 years in prison. In the past couple of years, states have worked to scale back sentencing practices by enacting legal reforms to reduce prison admissions and recalibrated punishments to address extreme sentencing practices. Many states are taking a step in this direction and these are some I will be discussing on what they are implementing in trying to diminish mass incarceration in the United States: California, North Carolina, Minnesota, Colorado, Oregon and Virginia. Virginia lawmakers have approved “Senate Bill 5013 to decriminalize possessing an ounce of marijuana, imposing a $25 fine instead of jail time.” according to The Sentencing Project website. Legislators in North Carolina have issued the First Step Act: House Bill 511, which will work towards allowing those convicted of certain drug offenses including trafficking and conspiracy to petition the court to have their mandatory 25-month sentence reduced. And finally, Minnesota’s sentencing guidelines commission “authorized an advisory five-year cap on felony probation terms for most offenses; persons convicted of murder, vehicular homicide, sex offenses, and conspiracy are excluded from the advisory cap.” again, stated by The Sentencing Project website.
2020 was a year for reflection and to really take situations into deeper consideration and now as a nation we are finally taking a step in the right direction to diminish this all-time high incarceration rate. Sentencing review reforms allows courts, parole boards or other entities to consider release petitions and recognize the capacity for change among persons sentenced to prison. By extending practices to allow taking second looks will allow mid sentence adjustments for persons imprisoned life and other extreme sentences. Again, many states across the United States are implementing legislation to allow these second looks and sentence review reform including Washington D.C., Louisiana and Virginia. Going back to The Sentencing Reform website, it is mentioned that Washington D.C. “authorized B23-0127, the Second Look Amendment Act. The measure allows individuals who committed an offense before age 25 and who have served 15 years in prison to petition for a sentence modification.”. Moving towards Louisiana, they adopted the House Bill 173 for individuals who served at least twenty-five years and met other requirements including education and other prerelease rehabilitation programming. Virginia was the most progressive in this area by passing several legislations, including House Bill 33,35 and 5148. House Bill 35 is most noteworthy because it “eliminates juvenile life without parole as a sentencing option, allowing persons convicted of an offense committed before the age of 18 eligible for parole after 20 years in prison.” from The Sentencing Project website.
Finally, states are looking to put an end to racial disparities and ending collateral consequences in the courtroom. Addressing disparities requires intentional actions on behalf of policy makers and practitioners. As I have mentioned in previous posts, most of the cases that receive excessive sentences are due to the fact that there are impartial race biases being included in the decision making process. California is very progressive and they have passes Assembly Bill 2542 which states the state’s Racial Justice Act, which prohibits prosecutors from seeking, obtaining, or imposing a conviction or sentence on the basis of race by empowering defendants to challenge racial bias in their case. By ending collateral consequences this helps those during or after their incarceration period; the results of these collateral consequences undermines the ability to fully participate in the community following a conviction and limits both economic and life opportunities. Another great piece of information founded on The Sentencing Project website is “Iowa’s Governor Kim Reynolds signed an executive order automatically restoring voting rights to returning citizens with felony convictions who completed their sentence.”.
It is amazing to such life changing steps are being taken to update legislation in order to correct what should’ve never went wrong in the first place. Although right now only states are taking individual steps to combat this situation, I hope to see substantial change in federal government in the near future.
https://www.everycrsreport.com/reports/RL32766.html
https://www.sentencingproject.org/publications/top-trends-in-state-criminal-justice-reform-2020/