From 2011 to 2021, Nebraska’s prison population grew by 21% and created the nation’s most overcrowded corrections system. During the same time period, national prison numbers fell by 24%.
The latter is an indicator that, first, the country didn’t experience a prison-filling crime wave in the last decade and, second, “justice reinvestment” reforms, implemented by 40 states, work.
The Legislature and then-Gov. Pete Ricketts, however, refused to examine the state’s get-tough-on-crime policies that have overfilled Nebraska’s prisons.
Rather, they consistently rejected reform efforts, including last year, when then-Sen. Suzanne Geist of Lincoln led the effort to scuttle a reform package from the recommendations of a study committee, most of which were policies that have been successfully implemented in other states.
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Until Monday, it appeared that the 2023 Legislature might not address criminal justice reform and prison overcrowding at all.
Then Sen. Justin Wayne of Omaha, the chair of the Judiciary Committee, brought an amendment to a criminal justice bill that included a package of reforms, along with measures aimed at reducing the number of people who “jam out" of the system, completing their sentences without necessary programming.
That plan grew out of talks Wayne held with prosecutors and others who have opposed past justice reforms. And he credited Gov. Jim Pillen, Lt. Gov. Joe Kelly, a former Lancaster County Attorney and Attorney General Mike Hilgers for convening the group – an indication that the package would be widely supported.
That, however, wasn’t the case as senators, several from the Judiciary Committee, raised concerns about the measures, echoing criticisms from the county attorneys association, which has opposed other reform efforts.
Sen. Carolyn Bosn argued that it would allow some habitual criminals to end up with reduced sentences and would let some incarcerated persons be granted parole earlier.
Lincoln Sen. George Dungan, an experienced public defender and trial attorney, rebutted the first concern, noting that the measure wouldn’t reduce sentences for habitual criminals but would adjust options for judges in sentencing repeat offenders.
And other senators dealt with Bosn’s second objection by noting that because incarcerated persons become eligible for parole doesn’t mean they get it.
The Legislature reluctantly advanced the bill to the second round of consideration Monday, But with senators demanding “negotiation” on its provisions, it appears that, to quote Yogi Berra, there could be “deja vu all over again” for criminal justice reform.
There is nothing in Wayne’s proposal that is “soft on crime” nor any measure that would endanger public safety.
Rather the provisions, like making “geriatric parole” available for most inmates aged 75 and up, expanding the use of problem solving courts and creating a pilot program for a “halfway back house” for parolees who commit technical violations, immediately begin to impact prison overcrowding.
And, the formation of a task force to look at modernizing and reforming the state’s sentencing laws needs to happen as quickly as possible in order for its suggested reforms to be approved next year.
Otherwise, the Nebraska prison population will continue to grow faster than any other state and the state’s corrections crisis, which can’t be solved by building more and bigger parsons, will continue for years to come.