Testimony of Nazgol Ghandnoosh, Ph.D. - Co-Director of Research The Sentencing Project

202.628.0871 ● staff@sentencingproject.org Established in 1986, The Sentencing Project advocates for effective and humane responses to crime that minimize imprisonment and criminalization of youth and adults by promoting racial, ethnic, economic, and gender justice. [...] Multiple national organizations have called for the passage of second look laws for all ages, regardless of the conviction, in order to reduce excessively long sentences: ● The American Bar Association adopted Resolution 502 that urges governments to enact legislation permitting courts to take a second look at incarcerated people after no more than 10 years of their sentence.6 ● The American Law I. [...] The criminal justice system maintains a responsibility to safety, justice, and human dignity that it should uphold even when those interests run contrary to survivors’ desires.31 As Sered explains, in these situations the criminal legal system remains obliged to listen to survivors, to be transparent about the decision making process, and to connect them with support. [...] After reinstating the death penalty in 1976, the Supreme Court narrowed the crimes and people for whom death could be sought in a series of cases responding to the “evolving standards of decency.”32 Long before this, Michigan abolished the death penalty and it is now among 23 states where the death penalty is prohibited,33 even if some crime survivors or the family members of victims would prefer. [...] The Brookings Institute as well as John Jay College of Criminal Justice have created syntheses of research evidence on public health approaches to crime as guides for funding organizations, community leaders, and lawmakers.35 Two reports from The Sentencing Project also highlight non-carceral social interventions for youth and adults to promote 32 Steiker, C.