Bills seek justice reform

Bills targeting Arizona’s high incarceration rate cleared a key hurdle with bipartisan support.

A slate of bills that would chip away at Arizona’s sky-high incarceration rate have easily cleared a key hurdle, passing out of the House Criminal Justice Committee with bipartisan support and minimal discussion.

Efforts to give judges more discretion on sentencing, limit prosecutors’ ability to “stack” certain charges and remove employment barriers for people convicted of drug crimes sailed through the hearing Wednesday with unanimous or near unanimous approval.

The proceedings marked a dramatic departure from just two years ago, when Justice Committee chairs — and county prosecutors with broad legislative influence — stopped several reform measures from being heard.

Advocates had begun to make progress last year when the COVID-19 pandemic cut the session short. When lawmakers returned for the new session, both committee chairs had retired and two influential county attorneys were replaced.

“In leadership, sometimes we have to do the hard things and pick up the challenges that that are in front of us,” Criminal Justice Committee Chair Walt Blackman, R-Snowflake, said Wednesday.

Figuring out how to safely overhaul the state’s justice system, he said, is “one of those hard things.”

Measures could reduce sentences, facilitate release

Arizona’s sentencing laws remain some of the harshest in the country — even though “the people of Arizona have consistently come to us, individually and as a group, and asked us to move forward on criminal justice reform,” Rep. Diego Rodriguez, D-Phoenix, said.

It’s not for lack of trying on either side of the aisle. House Majority Leader Ben Toma, R-Peoria, has helped lead Republican efforts to shake up sentencing practices.

His House Bill 2318, heard Wednesday, would curtail the use of “Hannah priors” — a practice allows attorneys to prosecute people facing multiple charges related to one crime as repeat offenders, even if they had clean records prior to the incident.

Toma also sponsored House Bill 2319, which would prohibit state agencies from denying occupational licenses to people with prior drug convictions, with exceptions for teachers and law enforcement officers.

Dianne McCallister, who represents the nonprofit Opportunity Solutions Project, said the measure would give “ex-offenders a chance at a fresh start.”

“Arizona has the fourth-highest imprisonment rate in the United States, with over 42,000 men and women currently inside our prison system and nearly 21% of them serving a sentence due to drug-related offenses,” she said.

“We need to ensure that our state regulations aren’t prohibiting these people from being able to gain employment and become productive members of our society.”

Along those lines, Blackman’s House Bill 2163 would require the Department of Corrections, Rehabilitation and Reentry to release at least 3,500 eligible prisoners to a transition program designed to help them successfully reenter the community. Reform advocates say throwing former prisoners into the world without counseling, substance abuse treatment and employment options is a recipe for recidivism.

“Not everybody needs the transitional services, but a lot do,” said Jeff Taylor, who began lobbying for prison and drug treatment reforms after overcoming his own addiction. “We want them out with help to get a job, deal with their drug problem, further their education and become clean and sober parents to their children.”

Newly elected Rep. Joel John, RBuckeye, also is pushing for changes after hearing from his constituents. His focus: mandatory minimum sentences.

House Bill 2673 would give judges discretion to impose lesser prison sentences or probation in cases where several years in prison “would result in an injustice to the defendant” and be unnecessary to protect the public.

“It is undeniable that there are individual cases in which people will come forward and an injustice occurred, and a person got more time than they reasonably should have,” Pinal County Attorney Kent Volkmer said.

He called the bill “good governance.”

Bills would improve women’s prison conditions, add oversight

Two other measures approved by the committee target the time in between sentencing and release.

Blackman’s House Bill 2167 would create an Office of the Independent Corrections Ombudsman to collect and analyze complaints, inspect corrections facilities and assess the Department of Corrections’ compliance with federal and state rules.

His House Bill 2261 would implement several requirements to improve conditions for incarcerated women, mandating that the Department of Corrections:

● Supply women with sufficient feminine hygiene products at no charge.

● Place mothers of minor children in prison facilities located within 250 miles of her family when possible.

● Allow minor children to visit their mothers, if the women are classified as a low or minimum security risk.

● Limit male correctional officers from conducting an inspection or search of a female prisoner who is in a “state of undress.”

● Prohibit correctional officers from performing body cavity searches on pregnant women.

● Provide sufficient food and dietary supplements to incarcerated women who are pregnant.

● Follow hygiene, nutrition and housing requirements for women who give birth.

● Allow a newborn baby to remain with its mother for 72 hours following delivery unless doing so would put the baby at risk.

“As we move forward, it’s important for us not to drop the ball on that population,” Blackman said.

Despite the proposals’ swift path through committee, roadblocks may remain for those that make it to the Senate. Sen. Warren Petersen, the Gilbert Republican now heading the Justice Committee there, has said he wasn’t planning on “major criminal justice reform changes in year one.”

There’s also the possibility bills could make it through both chambers only to be vetoed by Gov. Doug Ducey — something that happened with a previous “Hannah priors” bill in 2019.

The governor’s staff has indicated Ducey is warming to incremental changes, however, and advocates remain hopeful.

“I’m a former prosecutor who started working on criminal justice reform because, frankly, I got sick of sending people to prison who didn’t need to be there,” said Molly Gill, vice president of policy at Families Against Mandatory Minimums. “Ultimately, this is about fairness and justice.”