There are 8 article(s) tagged Criminal Justice Reform:

• August 2019

  • Lifeline to Success approaches a decade in changing lives of ex-offenders

    The Brown family started the idea of Lifeline to Success at their dinner table 2009, and they have counseled 1,200 people in the 10 years since it began. 

    By Omer Yusuf August 24, 2019

• July 2019

  • Mayoral candidate Tami Sawyer unveils criminal justice platform

    Mayoral contender Tami Sawyer and incumbent Mayor Jim Strickland differ greatly on how they believe the Memphis Police Department should be set up to fight the city's violent crime issues. 

    By Omer Yusuf July 13, 2019

• June 2019

  • Criminal justice reform part of Gov. Lee's Memphis itinerary this week

    Gov. Bill Lee is in Memphis Tuesday into Wednesday morning for a series of stops, including signing the bill that eliminates the state fee to expunge criminal records.

    By Bill Dries June 10, 2019

• May 2019

  • 'Mama's Day Bail Out' frees women from jail in time for Mother's Day

    Six women will be bailed out of jail this week during Mother's Day Bail Out by the Official Black Lives Matter Memphis Chapter. Since 2017, the group has paid bail for 30 men and women in Memphis and Shelby County in its effort to end cash bail. 

    By Yolanda Jones May 09, 2019

• April 2019

  • Nelson: How to fight recidivism with great books

    The parole board was blown away when a woman who had spent 25 years behind bars, and who was a member of the great books group at West Tennessee State Penitentiary, quoted Herodotus in answer to a question about how she now defined success.

    By Michael Nelson April 18, 2019

  • Shelby County adds a third grand jury to reduce case backlog, jail wait times

    Shelby County has added a third grand jury in hopes of reducing the length of time defendants wait in jail while also whittling down the case backlog.

    By Omer Yusuf and Yolanda Jones April 03, 2019

• March 2019

  • Shelby County to launch pilot program to examine pretrial services

    Shelby County plans to use pretrial risk assessment tools to help local judges decide on bail for nonviolent defendants. 

    By Yolanda Jones and Omer Yusuf March 11, 2019

  • Sanford: Criminal justice reform is not a black thing

    White inmates represent 58 percent of the total federal prison population, according to the U.S. Bureau of Prisons. The First Step Act, designed to lower mandatory-minimum sentences, shouldn't be considered an altruistic act exclusively for black inmates.

    By Otis Sanford March 07, 2019