By Nicole D. Porter
Top Trends in Criminal Justice Reform, 2025 describes key changes formerly incarcerated activists, lawmakers, and advocates took to challenge mass incarceration in at least 10 states.
Highlights include:
- Decarceration Reforms: Policymakers in Delaware, Georgia, and Maryland adopted or expanded second look and rehabilitation-based release policies authorizing reconsideration of certain criminal legal sentences after a term of years.
- Collateral Consequences of Conviction: Efforts to reform collateral consequences in 2025 helped guarantee voting rights for persons impacted by the legal system in Connecticut, Colorado, and Washington state, while Illinois lawmakers passed a law authorizing expungement for persons with certain criminal convictions.
- Advancing Youth Justice: Lawmakers in California, Hawaii, and Washington state adopted policies that demonstrated a commitment to supporting young defendants, including imposing limits on non-custodial probation for youth, establishing a minimum age for delinquency prosecution, and funding community-based diversion programs with standardized reporting to improve youth outcomes.
