Associated Press
TOPEKA, Kan. — Lawyers, a prison rehabilitation organization and faith communities are creating a coalition to push for changes to the Kansas criminal justice system.
Kansans for Smart Justice announced a series of measures that include reducing sentences for nonviolent drug offenders at a Statehouse news conference Monday.
The American Civil Liberties Union is among 13 organizations seeking to educate the community about the prison system.
Micah Kubic from the ACLU says the coalition will highlight trends including a rise in the state’s prison population despite the falling crime rate.
Benet Magnuson, a representative from the civil rights organization Kansas Appleseed, championed the full Senate’s recent vote to overhaul the juvenile justice system. He says the adult system also would benefit from placing low-risk offenders in community-based programs instead of jails.
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