The monetary penalties and legal financial obligations associated with being involved in the criminal justice system—and their effect on low-income defendants—are causing growing concern among policymakers across the country.
Federal, state and local governments are making decisions in regards to COVID-19 that affect the operation of their criminal justice systems. Read a list of resources that details action being taken by courts, law enforcement, state and local agencies and other civil and criminal justice stakeholders.
NCSL tracks many criminal justice hot topics like marijuana; human trafficking; juvenile life without parole; death penalty; drug crime policy and other issues.
NCSL has partnered with Arnold Ventures to develop a database of state law enactments related to reentry and criminal records.
State juvenile justice legislation in 2019 focused on enacting laws that diverting young people from formal court processing, providing alternatives to detention, restoring juvenile court jurisdiction, addressing due process rights, sealing and expunging records and limiting the use of solitary confinement.
NCSL maintains criminal justice legislation and bill tracking databases on juvenile justice, pretrial release and more.