34 criminal legal system reforms that can win in 2025
In a new report, we highlight reforms that are ripe for victory in the new year and provide tips for advocates to oppose lawmakers pushing for failed "tough-on-crime" lawmaking.
December 4, 2024
Today, we released our annual list of actionable and specific criminal legal system reforms state legislators can pursue as they return for the new legislative session. This sweeping resource offers examples of reform victories that policymakers can emulate to make the criminal legal system fairer without making it bigger.
The 34 reforms focus on eight areas:
- Expanding alternatives to criminal legal system responses to social problems;
- Protecting the presumption of innocence so people receive a fair shot at justice;
- Decreasing the length of prison sentences, and providing pathways for all people to exit prison;
- Treating people humanely during incarceration;
- Treating people on community supervision fairly, and helping them thrive in their communities;
- Setting people up to succeed when they leave prisons and jails;
- Giving incarcerated/formerly incarcerated people political representation and voice;
- Reducing spending on the criminal legal system while increasing investment in communities.
Each reform provides critical context about the problem it seeks to solve, points to high-quality research on the topic, and highlights solutions and legislation that have already been implemented in other states.
The list is not intended to be a comprehensive platform. Instead, we’ve curated it to offer policymakers and advocates straightforward solutions that would have a significant impact without further investments in the carceral system. We particularly focused on reforms that would reduce the number of people needlessly confined in prisons and jails. Additionally, we selected reforms that have gained momentum in recent years, passing in multiple states.
2024 carried several big setbacks for those pushing for an end to mass incarceration. In response, this year’s report includes a new section, offering tips for advocates to oppose their legislators backsliding into “tough-on-crime” lawmaking.
We sent this list to roughly 700 lawmakers, in all 50 states, from all political parties, who have shown a commitment to reducing the number of people behind bars in their state and making the criminal legal system more just and equitable. As they craft legislation for the upcoming legislative sessions, this list will provide them with actionable solutions to some of the most pressing challenges their states’ criminal legal system faces.
The full report is available at: https://www.prisonpolicy.org/reports/winnable2025.html.
