Criminal justice coalition outlines agenda

Dec. 30—Kentucky Smart on Crime, a coalition of groups advocating for criminal justice reform, will advocate during the upcoming legislative session for the state to expand eligibility of expungements, changes in how drug offenders are charged and restoration of voting rights for felons.

Kentucky Smart on Crime is a broad coalition of groups from across the political spectrum. The group advocates for changes in the criminal justice system to promote alternatives to incarceration and create better outcomes in terms of public safety and help people succeed after finishing their sentence.

"The strength of our coalition is we are such a diverse group," said Ashley Spalding, research director for the Kentucky Center for Economic Policy.

Kentucky bans people with felony convictions from voting unless their rights are restored by the governor. The state House passed a bill to restore voting rights to people with felonies who completed their sentences in 2015, but the measure died in the Senate.

Statistics on the Kentucky Smart on Crime website say 6% of state residents and 15% of the state's Black residents are prevented from voting due to a felony.

"Kentucky is one of three states that permanently takes away voting rights," said Jason Hall, executive director of the Catholic Conference of Kentucky.

The prohibition on voting for people with felony records is in the state constitution, so any bill passed by legislators to change that would have to go to the public as a constitutional amendment.

Hall said coalition members believe there is support in both the House and Senate to restore felon voting rights.

"If it could have a floor vote in both (chambers), we would have a constitutional amendment on the ballot," Hall said.

A priority for the upcoming session is changing first-degree possession of a controlled substance from a class D felony to a class A misdemeanor for a person's first and second convictions.

The change would reduce incarceration of drug offenders. Nineteen states, including Tennessee, treat drug possession as a misdemeanor.

"We would like Kentucky to join those states and make it a misdemeanor," said Kungu Njuguna, research director for the ACLU of Kentucky.

The coalition wants to see the persistent felony offender statute amended, eliminating set prison sentences for PFO convictions and allowing PFO offenders' charges with non-violent and non-sexual offenses to be eligible for probation and conditional discharge.

A PFO conviction greatly increases a person's sentence. For example, a person found guilty of a class D felony who is also judged to be a persistent felony offender is required to receive a sentence of five to 10 years in prison. Ordinarily, a class D felony carries a sentence of one to five years in prison.

A person convicted of a class D felony who is found to be a first-degree PFO could serve up to 20 years in prison and would be required to serve at least a 10-year sentence.

"The PFO has been used as a weapon against individuals for a long time," Njuguna said. "We would like to see more jury empowerment" in determining the length of a PFO sentence. The coalition also is advocating that some offenses be ineligible from having a PFO charge attached.

"These harsher sentences, research shows they don't make us safer," Spalding said.

The coalition also supports lawmakers tightening the state's "Good Samaritan" law that provides some immunity from prosecution for people seeking help from a drug overdose.

Laws that make drug possession a felony "don't keep people from dying of overdoses," Spalding said.

The coalition also will advocate that the state's felony expungement law be changed to put expungement in reach of more people. For example, the coalition supports eliminating or reducing application and background check fees, allowing people to apply for expungement after waiting three years instead of five years and making expungements for non-violent, non-sexual offenses automatic.

For people who are indigent, "fees are an impediment" to getting an expungement, Njuguna said.

Increasing access to expungement would assist Kentuckians by allowing them to "support themselves, support their families and have access to housing," Spalding said.

For people with felony records, the unemployment rate is 27%, Spalding said.

Hall said the issues the coalition has marked as priorities have been discussed before by lawmakers.

"I feel at least cautiously optimistic" about the organization's priorities in the session, Hall said. Having a board coalition of groups all in support of reforms is a benefit, he said.

"It shows in criminal justice there are rare opportunities for consensus," Hall said.