On the morning Jan. 21st, the day following Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Democratic members of the House Judiciary Committee outlined a comprehensive criminal justice reform agenda as part of Reframing Justice Day at the Capitol. the Democratic Justice Reform Agenda would help reverse Arizona's 5th highest national incarceration rate and included an end to mandatory minimum sentences and reduced sentencing and diversion programs for non-violent drug offenders. Representatives Kirsten Engel,
Diego Rodriguez, Domingo DeGrazia and Isela Blanc will sponsor the bills, which will be introduced soon.
"Every day Arizonans are paying the price of this State’s failure to fix our criminal justice system," Engel said. "We are paying for it in shattered families, in kids of incarcerated parents shuttled off to foster care or worse, to the school to prison pipeline. One out of every 134 adults in Arizona are currently incarcerated in a state prison. Just THINK about that – these are our neighbors, they may even be our relatives.
MEDIA ALERT - Jan 18, 2020
PHOENIX, State Capitol - Democratic members of the House Judiciary Committee caucus will hold a press conference Tuesday morning to propose legislative steps Arizona must take to reverse the nation's fourth-highest incarceration rate and show their support for Reframing Justice Day at the Capitol, which will spotlight dozens of formerly incarcerated people from all over Arizona advocating for criminal justice reform. Reframing Justice will kick off in the same area directly following the press conference.
WHO: Rep. Kirsten Engel, D-Tucson, Rep. Diego Rodriguez, D-Phoenix and Rep. Domingo DeGrazia, D-Tucson. Engel, Rodriguez and DeGrazia have introduced a comprehensive criminal justice reform agenda and support bi-partisan efforts to overcame persistent legislative roadblocks.
WHEN: 9:30 a.m. Tuesday, January 21st
WHERE: Rose Garden, north of old Capitol building
1700 W. Washington St., Phoenix.