On March 11, 2021, MAP partnered with the Justice Action Network to host the Justice Policy Champion 101 Webinar. The panelists included:
Blaine Volpe, State Caucus Manager at MAP
Jenna Bottler, Deputy Director of Justice Action Network
Alison Lawrence, Senior Policy Specialist of the Criminal Justice Program with National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL)
L.B. Eisen, Director of the Brennan Center’s Justice Program
Marc Levin, Senior Advisor for the Right on Crime Initiative at the Texas Public Policy Foundation
This webinar was exclusively created for freshman state legislators, and focused on informing them of what actions states have taken to tackle some of the problems in our criminal justice system. Panelists provided data and insight into coalition building and messaging for lawmakers to use in their own statehouses.
Alison Lawrence kicked off the webinar speaking to the nonpartisan mission of NCSL and the resources they have created to track criminal justice legislation during the 2021 session. The top trends for legislation in the 2021 session focus on law enforcement, pretrial release, and behavioral health & drug-crime policy.
L.B. Eisen and Marc Levin discussed best practices for bipartisan messaging around criminal justice reform. Eisen spoke of the Brennan Center’s research on the U.S. being the world’s leader in incarceration, and how related policies end up becoming a huge burden on state and local budgets, which are already struggling with budget shortfalls as a result of COVID-19. Because of this, Eisen explained that criminal justice reform has become a ripe opportunity for bipartisan support.
Levin spoke to the efforts in Texas and how the traditionally conservative state began to reinvest into prison alternatives which resulted in a significant drop in crime and the closure of 12 prisons across the state. Levin also highlighted how the pandemic resulted in many changes that had positive impacts on the criminal justice system, and how these positive outcomes could influence legislators to keep these policies even after the pandemic ends.
Lastly, Jenna Bottler began a full panel discussion around the questions of what policymakers can do to be a justice policy champion. Blaine Volpe mentioned the utility of social media for legislators to communicate criminal justice reform legislation and ensure constituents are receiving the correct information from the source.
If you are a state legislator looking to become a bipartisan champion of criminal justice reform, get in touch with us at MAP and learn more about MAP's criminal justice reform initiatives.