Rep. Tulsi Gabbard Continues Bipartisan Push for Criminal Justice Reform

Press Release

Today, Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (HI-02) announced support of two bipartisan criminal justice reform bills--H.R.2944, the Safe, Accountable, Fair, and Effective (SAFE) Justice Act, and H.R.3713, the Sentencing Reform Act. The SAFE Justice Act takes proven community generated solutions from states throughout the country and applies them effectively at the national level. The Sentencing Reform Act reduces certain mandatory minimums for drug offenders, and allows judges greater discretion in determining appropriate sentences.

"Our criminal justice system today is unsustainable, both for our government and for society. In Hawaiʻi, 5,500 inmates were in our correctional system last year, including 1,300 sent to Arizona because of prison overcrowding, and our state spent over $179 million on corrections," said Rep. Tulsi Gabbard. "Across the country, spending on our criminal justice system continues to go up, but over 40% of people released from prison return within 3 years.

"States around the country are finding new and innovative ways to address the many problems that plague our criminal justice system. In Hawaiʻi, veteran treatment courts and drug courts are helping to reduce prison crowding and over-criminalization by focusing on rehabilitation and treatment. Similarly, the HOPE model has shown dramatic results in reducing recidivism by implementing a high-intensity supervision probation program. Criminal justice reform is a bipartisan cause, and both the SAFE Act and the Sentencing Reform Act are the kinds of sensible changes that will begin to bring about long overdue criminal justice reform."

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