June 2014 Group Watch: Revamping Criminal Justice System
Governor Robert Bentley recently announced plans to revamp the state’s criminal justice system. Alabama will participate in a program offered by the Council of State Governments Justice Center, a national organization that helps states analyze and improve their criminal justice systems. The Justice Reinvestment Initiative will look crime and arrest trends in Alabama and aggregate corrections data, which will be the foundation for establishing the process and timelines for any new proposals. The goal is to maintain and improve public safety in a cost-effective manner. Savings could be used to establish and/or expand substance abuse and mental health services. The justice center has worked with 18 states to date, and in Michigan, reform legislation that address prison problems in that state was recently signed into law.
