SHARED
Tuesday, March 15, 2022
East Valley NAACP – Arizona Contact: Kiana M. Sears, East Valley NAACP President | (480) 442-1222 | [email protected]
TWENTY-SIX NON-PROFIT ORGANIZATIONS AND INDIVIDUALS CALL FOR OPPOSITION OF
NEW JIM CROW BILLS
March 15, 2022
This year, the Arizona Department of Corrections has requested $1.5 billion to manage the state prison system for one year, despite our state’s prison population being at its lowest levels since 2006. And yet, Arizona has the fifth-highest incarceration rate in the United States.
Arizona’s failing prison system doles out lengthy punishments with very limited opportunities for rehabilitation, and many of the bills under consideration will move our state backwards and continue to increase our prison population. We urge Arizona lawmakers to create a safe and just Arizona for all by voting against bills that waste our tax dollars and bloat our prison systems without reducing crime. Instead, we can pursue an agenda committed to promoting public safety by reducing harms to our communities, providing treatment for persons suffering from mental illness and substance abuse disorder, and ensuring access to affordable housing.
While there have been several reform-minded measures considered in the past few years, including this session, which could have aided in removing redundancy and allocated resources toward programs that reduce recidivism, the bills that remain active today are those that serve to increase penalties and extend prison sentences. It is for this reason that we are sounding the alarm.
Bills that would increase mandatory minimums or propose the creation of new offenses that are duplicative of other parts of the criminal code must be rejected. It is surprising to see Arizona politicians doubling down on what we know now is a failed approach. Studies have shown for some time now that mandatory minimum sentences do not reduce crime, are not cost effective, and exacerbate racial disparities. Yet, the following bills increase criminal penalties, and thereby the burden on taxpayers and our prison system by adding excessive, additional and/or unnecessary offenses to the criminal code:
SB 1001: Expands the already very broad crime of theft by extortion which has a mandatory sentence of 1.5 – 3 years in prison.
SB 1251: Expands the definition of armed robbery, which carries a mandatory minimum sentence of 7-21 years (depending on the person’s record).
SB 1311/HB 2635: Makes any assault against a healthcare worker a felony with a mandatory minimum of 3 months in prison regardless of whether the worker was injured.
SB 1379: Makes transporting undocumented persons up to a Class 4 felony punishable by 1.5 – 3 years in prison if the person transporting them knows they are here unlawfully.
SB 1445: Expands the smuggling statute to create mandatory minimums of up to 10-24 years for refugees bringing their children to Arizona.
SB 1633: Criminalizes investigations conducted for a legitimate purpose by defining them as criminal harassment punishable by up to six months in jail.
HB 2021: Imposes a 10-29 year sentence for a new “homicide” offense that does not require any intent to kill.
HB 2251: Creates a mandatory minimum of 3-7 years in prison (depending on the person’s record) for a newly-created assault that is already covered by existing law.
HB 2319: Criminalizes First-Amendment-protected activity, recording law enforcement, as a petty or misdemeanor offense even when there is no interference with police.
HB 2322: Vaguely and broadly expands the crime of “hazing,” which could result in a class 1 misdemeanor and up to 6 months in jail.
HB 2324: Creates a new misdemeanor, punishable by up to six months in jail, for having a minor in a building where someone is preparing for an animal fight.
HB 2343: Creates the new crime of interfering with a crime scene, punishable by up to four months in jail, which is broad enough to violate the First Amendment.
HB 2355: Increases the mandatory minimum sentence to 25 years to life for anyone tried as an adult and convicted of the second-degree murder of a minor less than 15 years old (which includes reckless conduct in addition to an intentional killing).
HB 2696: Increases the mandatory sentence to 39-111 years for anyone tried as an adult and convicted of a dangerous crime against children in the first degree (which includes a serious fight between high school students).
We urge lawmakers to move away from this piecemeal approach to modifying criminal laws and look at system-wide solutions, including identifying innovative and effective policies that do not rely on systems of punishment but instead support communities and actually work to reduce crime. We request lawmakers to vote “No” on any bill expanding our criminal code and mandatory minimum sentencing, which perpetuates ineffective “tough-on-crime” politics that only fill prisons.
Instead, lawmakers should embrace “smart-on-crime” policies that improve public safety and to invest in mental health care, substance abuse counseling, and other support that help reduce crime, prevent recidivism and offer a far greater return on investment than prison ever will.
Signed,
Arizona Faith Network
Arizona Justice Alliance
African American Christian Clergy Coalition
Just Communities Arizona
Justice Java
Arizonans for Rational Sex Offense Laws
Sue Braga
ACLU of Arizona
Arizona Coalition to End Sexual and Domestic Violence
The S.T.A.R.T. Project
Central Arizona National Lawyers Guild
Death Penalty Alternatives for Arizona
Law Enforcement Action Partnership
Arizona State Conference NAACP
Deborah North
League of Women Voters Arizona
Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Phoenix
East Valley – Arizona NAACP (1008-B)
National Council of Jewish Women Arizona
Jewish Community Relations Council of Southern Arizona
Arizona Attorneys for Criminal Justice
Sonoran Prevention Works
Charlene Schwickrath
Activate 48
William E. Morris Institute for Justice
Living United for Change in Arizona
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