A criminal record creates barriers to jobs, occupational licensing, housing, and higher education opportunities. Click to read our reports and databases on how state legislatures are working to help released offenders successfully transition back into the community.
NCSL has partnered with Arnold Ventures to develop a database of significant state law enactments related to community supervision.
By analyzing state data, lawmakers are discovering what’s driving costs, where inequities exist in the system and how to identify who is incarcerated, how long they’ve been in and whether they should be there.
COVID-19 has significantly affected the American criminal justice system. In particular, states have tried to reduce involvement with the justice system and limit person-to-person interactions, whether with law enforcement, in courts, in jails and prisons, or with community supervision officers. Read about these and other actions in our brief.
Most states that have legalized medical or recreational cannabis leave testing and decisions up to the individual employer’s discretion. See our table on states that have statutory language requiring employers to not refuse employment or otherwise discriminate against a qualifying medical cannabis patient (or medical cannabis “cardholder” in some states).
NCSL Sentencing and Corrections partners with The Pew Charitable Trusts' public safety performance project, the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, and the Laura and John Arnold Foundation on sentencing and corrections policies.