HEALTH & JUSTICE IN THE NEWS
Date: October 27, 2016
TASC in the News
Peer Exchange - Medication-Assisted Treatment in Drug Use Cases: A Path to Success
MD Magazine
The MD Magazine Peer Exchange "Medication-Assisted Treatment in Drug Abuse Cases: A Path to Success" features a panel of experts in the criminal justice field who provide insight on medication-assisted re-entry programs. Panelists include Phillip Barbour, master trainer with the Center for Health and Justice at Treatment Alternatives for Safe Communities and Jac Charlier, director for consulting and training, also with the Center for Health and Justice at Treatment Alternatives for Safe Communities. Episodes 13 and 14 were released on October 24.
Episode 13 - Understanding Medication-Assisted Drug Treatment Programs: http://www.hcplive.com/peer-exchange/substance_abuse_2016/understanding-medication-assisted-drug-treatment-programs
Around the Nation
States See Peer-Recovery Coaches As A Way To Break The Addiction Epidemic
Kaiser Health News, 10/26/16
In some state, policymakers have begun to embrace a road to recovery led by people who have traveled it. It's a growing effort to address the nation's burgeoning opioid epidemic. Here's how the idea, still in its infancy, works: During overdose patients' emergency department stays, they are introduced to a "peer recovery coach." Patients trust these coaches, with whom they share common experiences. Coaches then stay in touch after discharge, meeting patients regularly to help navigate the path toward sobriety and resolve issues such as housing, food stamp applications, court obligations or job searches.
The overdose crisis is bringing back one of the worst policies of the 'war on drugs'
Business Insider, 10/25/16
Recently introduced legislation would allow federal prosecutors to sentence individuals convicted of selling drugs to life in prison or the death penalty when they can be connected to an overdose death caused by heroin laced with fentanyl, a synthetic opioid painkiller with 50 times the strength of pure heroin. But opponents of the law and others like it say such legislation is ineffective at deterring the flow of drugs and most often actually harms the individuals it is designed to protect. "This bill is a doubling down on the very ineffective, harsh, and punitive policies that characterized the early war on drugs and which have widely been proven ineffective at reducing drug use," Lindsay LaSalle, a senior staff attorney for Drug Policy Alliance, told The Huffington Post in September.
Around Illinois
Ammons promoting bail-reform effort
The News-Gazette, 10/26/16
Rep. Carol Ammons, D-Urbana, and other officials have announced plans to bring a bail-reform movement to Illinois. Illinois will be the second state in the country to join an initiative designed to prevent individuals accused of nonviolent crimes from being detained just because they can't afford bail. In partnership with the Pretrial Justice Institute, the 3DayCount movement seeks to help judges make more objective and informed decisions about holding an offender until trial, all based on a risk assessment. On Wednesday, Ammons, Illinois Supreme Court Chief Justice Rita Garman, Winnebago County Chief Judge Joseph McGraw, Director of the Administrative Office of Illinois Courts Mike Tardy and Pretrial Justice Institute CEO Cherise Fanno Burdeen announced their partnership, along with a goal of implementing new standards for pretrial by the year 2020.
Preckwinkle wants more people charged with nonviolent crimes released from jail
Chicago Tribune, 10/25/16
Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle and a bipartisan, biracial coalition of commissioners on Monday pushed for jailing fewer people charged with nonviolent crimes while they await trial. Preckwinkle and her allies called for a public hearing next month to explore the issue, contending unnecessary incarceration wasted taxpayer money and needlessly kept in jail those who simply could not afford their bail. Commissioners Jesus "Chuy" Garcia, D-Chicago, Richard Boykin, D-Oak Park, John Fritchey, D-Chicago, and Peter Silvestri, R-Elmwood Park, all joined Preckwinkle in calling for the public hearing.
Research, Reports, and Studies
Reductions in Federal Drug Terms Could Save $2.1 Billion
The Crime Report, 10/26/16
The U.S. Sentencing Commission has issued a new data document reporting that under its so-called "drugs -2" guideline amendment, 29,391 people incarcerated in federal prisons have had their federal drug prison sentences reduced by an average of over two years, says Ohio State University law Prof. Doug Berman on his Sentencing Law and Policy blog. Using a conservative estimate that each extra year of imprisonment per individual costs on average $35,000, the commission's decision to make its "drugs -2" guideline amendment retroactive appears to be on track to save federal taxpayers around $2.1 billion dollars, Berman says.
Opinions, Editorials, and Commentary
Rep. Ammons: Illinois needs fairer pretrial system
Chicago Sun-Times, 10/26/16
The premise that a person is innocent until proven guilty is being inverted across America. On any given day, nearly half a million legally innocent people languish in U.S jails for the simple reason that they are too poor to pay bail for their release... Pretrial reform is gaining momentum nationally, and Illinois can be a leader in this reform. Through the collective effort of my office, the Illinois Supreme Court, the Administrative Office of the Illinois Courts, Pretrial Justice Institute, and our statewide stakeholders, we will begin the process of reducing the reliance on money bail and move our state to a smart, equitable, and sustainable pretrial system.
Editorial Board: Stewing in jail because you are poor is wrong
Chicago Sun-Times, 10/25/16
People shouldn't sit in jail awaiting trial for nonviolence offenses just because they can't scrape bail money together. By the time the trial rolls around, they may already have served more time behind bars than they would have served for a conviction. If they turn out to be innocent, there's no way to give back that time.
