After a drop due to the COVID pandemic, new research found Kentucky is once again crowding more people into jails and prisons.

The Bluegrass State has one of the highest incarceration rates in the world, and some experts believe it is a direct result of state legislation keeping men and women locked up.

Carmen Mitchell, criminal justice policy analyst at the Kentucky Center for Economic Policy, which produced the report, said the state's elected officials are not doing enough to solve the problem.

"If Kentucky were a country, it would rank seventh-highest in the world for the rate of incarceration," Mitchell reported. "We have right under 22,000 people in jails; about another 9,800 people in state prisons. This legislative session that just concluded didn't make any meaningful steps to address that."

Mitchell pointed out over the past decade, several factors are driving the state's incarceration levels, including locking people up for low-level drug felonies and property crime. High rates of pretrial detention are another factor. The report noted Kentuckians remain in custody when they cannot afford bail.

Mitchell explained, like many states and countries around the world, Kentucky's incarceration levels were reduced due to pandemic health concerns, but the decrease did not last.

"We saw a major drop in the jail population, especially in pretrial capacity," Mitchell recounted. "And unfortunately though, we've been climbing back up ever since then. So, we've once again gotten back to the point where our incarcerated population in jails is exceeding even the capacity and number of beds."

In 2021, bills were passed to limit no-knock warrants and raise the dollar amounts for making some crimes felonies, but Mitchell argued the 2022 session appears to have reversed the trend.

"We pass punitive legislation at a rate of about six-to-one, with respect to legislation that might redress, address, incarceration or justice involvement," Mitchell emphasized. "That's what we normally do, and 2021 was a good outlier, and we were hoping to build on that. But unfortunately, we kind of returned to 'business as usual.' "

She added she is convinced changes would be more likely if Kentuckians let their lawmakers know they feel criminal-justice reform should be a top priority.

Advocacy organizations of differing ideologies appear to be in agreement when it comes to certain bail reform efforts in Ohio.

The Senate Judiciary Committee will hear proponent testimony on a proposed fix to an Ohio Supreme Court ruling, which said courts cannot use public safety as a factor in setting bail.

Senate Joint Resolution 5 would put a constitutional amendment on the ballot in November to allow courts to use public safety and other factors in determining the amount of bail posted.

Alan Smith, criminal justice fellow at the Buckeye Institute, a free-market public policy think tank, argued Ohio would be better served by bipartisan reform efforts in the Legislature.

"The focus here is on accused persons who are in jail because they couldn't organize bail money and people with resources can pay their way out," Smith pointed out. "There's a discrepancy there."

Senate Bill 182 and House Bill 315 would write into law the presumption for release rather than detention and greatly reduce the use of cash bail. The measures also are supported by the ACLU of Ohio, Common Cause Ohio, Ohio Conservatives for Bail Reform, and Policy Matters Ohio.

Supporters of the constitutional amendment, including the Ohio Prosecuting Attorneys Association, argued judges should not be limited in their ability to consider victims' rights and public safety. But Smith countered changing the constitution would undermine current and future legislative work.

"It may affect negatively some of the long-term work that's been put into bail reform," Smith explained. "There might be perceived conflicts because one set of rules is in the Constitution and another set would be statutory."

Smith added reducing the use of cash bail will keep people with low-level offenses out of jail and save the state money, while preserving the principle of innocent until proved guilty.

"There's a wide spectrum of ideological interest in making the system better," Smith noted. "It all comes back to public acceptance. The idea is that we could improve the system that's out there, and in that sense, I suppose improve civilization."

The Senate resolution gets its second hearing today. Its companion bill, House Joint Resolution 2, was passed by a House committee last week.

Reporting by Ohio News Connection in association with Media in the Public Interest and funded in part by the George Gund Foundation.

The Pennsylvania Department of Corrections has officially launched "Little Scandinavia," a unit in a state prison to focus on rehabilitation and reintegration.

The new unit at SCI Chester comes after a multiyear partnership with the Norwegian Correctional Service and the Swedish Prison and Probation Service. Little Scandinavia residents have access to a communal kitchen, green space, and redesigned cells, furniture and common areas.

Kenneth Eason, superintendent of SCI Chester, said it is about creating a more humane prison environment.

"You're going to see a change in culture, the rippling effect, and not just within the walls," Eason contended. "I'm speaking wellness in the men, living healthier, things introduced to them that they truly need to be successful, to move on beyond these walls and do well, and not come back."

In 2019, state prison employees traveled to Norway, Sweden and Denmark to gain experience working under the Scandinavian model for several weeks. Little Scandinavia residents will receive specialized programming to prepare them for reentry. The unit has 64 cells.

The partnership also includes a research collaboration between Drexel University and the University of Oslo to evaluate the effectiveness of the model.

Jordan Hyatt, associate professor of criminology and justice studies at Drexel, said it is about understanding how the development of Little Scandinavia affects life at SCI Chester.

"What does it mean for the men who are living on this unit? How does it change the way they see their community, themselves and being in prison?" Hyatt outlined. "In the long term, we hope to understand what this means for community reintegration. When people leave Little Scandinavia, where do they go, both from a staff perspective and for the men incarcerated?"

Data will be collected on prison climate, staff, disciplinary actions and the well-being of the people serving their sentences there. Acting Corrections Department Secretary George Little said he hopes to see a similar program implemented at one of the women's prisons as well.

The state of Indiana is facing a lawsuit over a new law placing restrictions on charitable bail funds.

Among other provisions, the law would limit who can be bailed out by the charitable organizations, and attach a $300 certification fee to certain bail groups.

Ken Falk, legal director for the Indiana ACLU, pointed out the new law applies only to charitable bail funds, and not individual citizens or bail bond companies. The Indiana ACLU filed the suit on behalf of the Bail Project, a national nonprofit which helps post bail for folks in jail, and the only large bail fund in Indiana.

"Under Indiana law now, anyone can pay that bill," Falk explained. "Except, there are limitations placed on one entity only, and that's The Bail Project. And for the life of me, I can't figure out why that would be."

Falk argued the new law violates the Bail Project's constitutional right to equal protection under the law and their First Amendment right of "expressive advocacy." Last year, news outlets and Republican lawmakers alleged the project was posting bail for people who later committed violent crimes, allegations largely debunked by an Indianapolis Star investigation.

The new law would bar charitable funds, but not for-profit companies, from posting bail for people charged with a violent crime or anyone who has a prior violent crime conviction and is charged with a felony.

Twyla Carter, national director of legal and policy for The Bail Project, said the number of people the project bails out who later go on to commit violent crimes is very small.

"Anytime you legislate around extreme cases, it can be problematic," Carter noted. "We would just ask people to keep that in context and recognize the full body of our work."

The Star investigation found, since December 2018, three people in Marion County previously bailed out by the nonprofit have since been accused of murder. According to its website, The Bail Project provided support and resources for more than 1,000 Hoosiers during the same time period.

While acknowledging lawmakers should not legislate based on a small minority of cases, Carter said she does not want to downplay the issue of violent crime.

"Certainly we don't deny the tragedies that occurred, certainly those particular cases will work their way through the criminal-legal system just like any other case," Carter pointed out. "But unfortunately what we saw then was the politicization of those particular stories."

The law is tentatively set to go into effect in July, although Falk said the Indiana ACLU has filed for an injunction to block the policy while the case is litigated.