I was thrilled to once again co-host “A Neighbor’s Choice” podcast with David Gornoski, which airs on iHeartRadio WFLA Orlando 93.1 FM/540AM and News Talk Florida WHBO across Tampa Bay.
This week we were fortunate to have Erin Haney, Reform Alliance’s Policy Director, join us. Erin Haney, has spent over a decade as an attorney protecting the rights of indigent clients at all levels of our justice system.
We discussed the landscape within the criminal justice system, particularly those being supervised on probation and parole. Often times when criminal justice reform issues are discussed, we focus on those that are incarcerated, but we forget that an even a larger population are placed on community supervision each year. There are 2.3 million people incarcerated in the United States, and an additional 4.6 million are under community supervision. Florida incarcerates roughly 90,000 inmates behind bars and supervises nearly 164,000 people within Florida’s communities.
Erin highlighted reforms Florida can take up in 2021 legislature, such as remote reporting, addressing stubbornly high rates of technical violations while on supervision, and creating more manageable conditions for individuals to succeed and thrive while under supervision. Florida must invest in its community supervision programs so that we can decrease recidivism while helping offenders land on their feet as productive members of society.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LESNV5e0L3I