Crime Archives | Page 7 of 10 | Georgia Public Policy Foundation

Civil Asset Forfeiture Reform Gets a Facelift

posted 5 years ago on January 22nd, 2014 by admin Leave a Comment

By Mike Klein Georgia civil forfeiture reform legislation has undergone a cosmetic facelift that might improve its chances for passage but critics are already focused on language which states “an acquittal or dismissal in a criminal proceeding shall not preclude civil forfeiture proceedings.” In effect, you could be found innocent in court but you could still lose your personal property. An HB 1 substitute was published Tuesday afternoon after the first meeting of the House Judiciary committee chaired by Rep. Wendell Willard who is the bill’s primary sponsor. The new bill makes significant concessions to prosecutors and sheriffs who essentially shut down civil forfeiture reform effort last year with their strong opposition to proposed reforms. Civil forfeiture is the concept… View Article

Georgia Poised to Rejoin Interstate Compact for Juveniles

posted 5 years ago on January 21st, 2014 by admin 3 Comments

By Mike Klein Georgia appears poised to rejoin the Interstate Compact for Juveniles (ICJ) which is one of those under-the-radar parts of law that most folks don’t think much about. Forty-nine states have a contractual agreement under which they can return out-of-state juvenile offenders to their home states. The state that does not participate with the other 49 states is Georgia. It was not always that way. Georgia was an Interstate Compact member starting in 1955 through the first seven years of former Governor Sonny Perdue’s administration. But in 2010, the eighth and final year of Perdue’s second term, Georgia withdrew from the Compact. That decision is now seen as incompatible with ongoing juvenile justice reform, said Clayton County Juvenile… View Article

Framework Established for 2014 Criminal Justice Reform

posted 5 years ago on December 20th, 2013 by admin Leave a Comment

(Click on YouTube links to watch Council on Criminal Justice Reform segments.) By Mike Klein Georgia would “Ban the Box” and take a deeper dive into return-to-prison recidivism rates under two preliminary recommendations approved this week by the Georgia Council on Criminal Justice Reform. The Council’s final report is due to Governor Nathan Deal, the judiciary and legislators before they open their session on Monday, January 13, 2014. The Council approved four proposals to update civil asset forfeiture law which has been a contentious issue. (YouTube) And, it sought to strengthen personal protection by proposing legal action could be taken against private parties who publish erroneous or outdated criminal records, especially when that information is provided to employers… View Article

Should Georgia “Ban the Box” to “Enhance the Chance”?

posted 5 years ago on December 17th, 2013 by admin 1 Comment

Update: The Council on Criminal Justice Reform unanimously approved a preliminary recommendation to “Ban the Box” on Georgia state government job applications during its Wednesday, December 18 meeting. Exceptions to “Ban the Box” would include public safety positions and any job in which a felony conviction is an automatic disqualification. The Council will vote to approve its final report in early January. Recommendations would require legislation during the 2014 General Assembly. By Mike Klein Should Georgia become the eleventh state to “Ban the Box?” You could be excused for asking, what box? “The Box” on many public and private sector employment applications asks, “Have you ever been convicted of a felony?” On the Georgia state government employment application it… View Article

Measure Prisoner Reentry Success by Who Does NOT Return

posted 5 years ago on December 13th, 2013 by admin Leave a Comment

(This article is an excerpt of a presentation made by the author this week to Georgia justice system stakeholders who engage offenders before, during and after incarceration. Stakeholders included representatives of justice, behavioral, housing, employment and other state agencies.) By Dennis M. Schrantz Trying to reduce crime, reducing the number of victims, that is what’s at the heart of this work. Every time we talk about re-entry we need to focus on the brass ring, crime reduction. We’re not eliminating crime; we’re reducing crime. We’re not eliminating people returning to prison; we’re reducing the number of people returning to prison. We’re doing that because it reduces the number of victims we have. Who’s against reducing the number of victims? Re-entry… View Article

Tearing Down Invisible Prison Walls Created by Poverty

posted 5 years ago on December 10th, 2013 by admin 1 Comment

By MIKE KLEIN Prisons do not need walls. High unemployment, low education, blight, depression, desperation and deprivation can become easy substitutes for bricks and mortar. Simply because someone completes time inside prison walls going home does not guarantee new hope and a new life. Ex-offenders often return to “some of the poorest neighborhoods and urban centers and rural towns throughout America and the city of Griffin in Spalding County, Georgia is no exception,” said Theo Harris when he recently addressed the Georgia Council on Criminal Justice Reform. Harris wears many hats in his community, among them, member of the Griffin-Spalding Reentry Task Force. Standing before a large mural filled with multi-colored stick pins, Harris showed Council members four Griffin census… View Article

Ex-Offenders Tell Council: Start Prisoner Reentry Process Early

posted 5 years ago on December 5th, 2013 by admin Leave a Comment

By Mike Klein One by one they came to the podium; the convicted murderer who served 25 years in state prison; the long-term addict who turned to drugs after relatives sexually abused her when she was less than ten years old; the former elected official who took money under the table and when his scheme unraveled, he went away to the federal Big House. One by one, they came to the podium with nearly the same message: If you want to rehabilitate someone, start early. “It is impossible to let a person go five-to-six years in prison and expect that person to rehabilitate himself and begin that process six months before you come home,” said convicted murderer Aakeem Woodard. “How… View Article

Criminal Justice Council Gets Civil Asset Forfeiture Assignment

posted 5 years ago on August 16th, 2013 by admin Leave a Comment

By Mike Klein Governor Nathan Deal has raised the ante on civil asset forfeiture reform next year by formally asking the new Georgia Council on Criminal Justice Reform to bring forward its own recommendation – and he means before the General Assembly returns in January. Ten new members and five holdovers from last year’s Council were told about civil asset forfeiture reform during their initial meeting Thursday afternoon at the State Capitol. Civil asset forfeiture reform was perhaps the most contentious issue in the 2013 General Assembly. House Bill 1 would have limited the power sheriffs and district attorneys have to seize the assets of people who have been convicted of no crime, convert those assets to cash, and then… View Article

Juvenile Justice Folks are in the Fixing Families Business

posted 6 years ago on May 7th, 2013 by admin Leave a Comment

By Mike Klein This idea is almost too obvious: Fix families and you might alleviate pressure on overburdened state justice systems as there might be fewer folks showing up in juvenile and adult criminal courts. This week the Campaign for Youth and Justice echoed that idea in a new report that states: “Given the history of the juvenile justice system, which has historically kept families at arm’s length, coupled with organizational and fiscal challenges facing agencies today, it is not surprising that many justice systems are struggling to meet the needs of families.” The Family Comes First executive summary further states that despite legitimate efforts to improve outcomes, “what has been missing is a vision of what a transformed justice… View Article

Broken Families, Parents Without Skills, Kids in Juvenile Justice

posted 6 years ago on May 7th, 2013 by admin 1 Comment

Published May 3, 2013 By Mike Klein One of the primary architects of the special council recommendations that became the basis for this year’s juvenile justice reform legislation says the primary reason that thousands of juveniles enter the legal system each year is because they come from dysfunctional families. “Most of the kids we’re seeing today in most courts are kids in which we have broken families, most of them have single parents, most of those are mothers and there are poor or very weak problem solving skills, not just among the young people but also their parents,” Clayton County Juvenile Court Chief Judge Steven Teske told the Georgia Public Policy Foundation this week. Last year Governor Nathan Deal added… View Article

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