Commenting on the country’s “sociologically and economically illogical” sentencing laws and rising incarceration rates, New York Times columnist Charles Blow wrote about the nation’s encouraging signs that policy makers are moving in the right direction in criminal justice reform. 

“After decades of supercharged incarceration rates, our bloated prison system is straining under its own weight, and policy makers are finally being forced to deal with the need to shrink it,” he wrote.

Recently released from a 23-month prison sentence for conspiracy and dog fighting, NFL quarterback Michael Vick is returning to his football career. Most others with a felony conviction record, however, are unable to return to the workforce, according to Virginia CARES, a local nonprofit organization that aids in the reentry process for formerly incarcerated individuals.

"Vick re-enters society with stable employment, formal and informal networks of support, and structures of accountability," said Maureen O'Connell, a Fordham University theology professor. "Unfortunately, many of these supports are not available to ex-offenders."

A New York Times editorial published today supports alternatives to detention for juveniles, citing a need to treat youth more humanely. Instead of holding most youth in pre- or post-adjudicatory detention, this editorial suggests enrollment in community-based programs such as those supported by the Annie E. Casey Foundation’s Juvenile Detention Alternatives Initiative.

National: Media Spotlight Democracy Restoration Act of 2009
Massachusetts: Court Decides Incarcerated Cannot Vote

Washington, the first state to pass a three-strikes sentencing law in 1993, is reconsidering the wisdom of locking up more than 290 persons in prison for life, often for non-serious crimes.  In May, Governor Chris Gregoire pardoned Stevan Dozier, the first person serving a life sentence for a third-strike to be pardoned in the nation.  Now Washington intends to undertake a broader review of three-strikes sentences in prison.