We have held several events in partnership with Partners for Progress concerning Cost-Effective Justice and exploring options for improving our corrections process.
Prisoner Reentry
January 5th, 2013 we held a program at the Marston Theater exploring Paths to Successful Prisoner Reentry and Reduced Recidivism. There were several documents discussed at this event and you can find these on the Partners for Progress website. Additionally, the Alaska Department of Corrections lists numerous documents relating to prisoner reentry and rehabilitation in Alaska. More recently, the Pew Charitable Trust has released a report on the relation between time served and recidivism.
Cost-Effective Justice
In September 2010 Jerry Madden,Texas Republican State Legislator, was the keynote speaker at an all day public forum entitled “Cost Effective Justice,” sponsored by Partners for Progress and Alaska Common Ground, and supported by the Pew Center on the States. Other speakers included national prison reform leaders and Alaskans from all segments of the criminal justice system.
The event was well attended, well covered by the press, and stimulated lasting public interest and discussion among state legislators. Representative Madden was invited back the next year for a discussion of Smart Justice sponsored by a bipartisan group of state legislative leaders. The following year Chief Justice Walter Carpeneti made Cost-Effective Justice the central theme of his annual State of the Judiciary address to the Legislature. In the summer of 2013 members of the Senate and House Judiciary Committees heard bi-partisan support for changes in Alaska’s judiciary system that would increase cost-effective justice, as well as support for proposed legislation to implement these changes.
