News & Commentary about Smart Justice
![Smart Justice image](https://www.aclu.org/wp-content/themes/aclu-wp/img/news/news-by-issue-images/smart-justice_600.png)
May 7, 2020
Poetry, Prison, and the Pandemic
![Mother and daughter reunited on yellow background](https://assets.aclu.org/live/uploads/2020/04/ChalanaMcFarlandHero-reduced-400x266.jpg)
Apr 23, 2020
After a Lifetime Apart, COVID-19 Prison Release Reunites Mother and Daughter
![Inmate housing area in a California prison.](https://assets.aclu.org/live/uploads/2020/04/COVID-Prisons-FullBleed-Header-400x266.jpg)
Apr 22, 2020
New Model Shows Reducing Jail Population will Lower COVID-19 Death Toll for All of Us
![Inmates walk around a recreation yard of a California prison.](https://assets.aclu.org/live/uploads/2020/04/BOP-COVID19-Header-Image-400x266.jpg)
Apr 13, 2020
Federal Wardens Must Immediately Flatten the Curve in our Nation's Prisons
![inmates walk the yard during recreation time in a county jail.](https://assets.aclu.org/live/uploads/2020/04/Louisiana-Prisons-COVID-Header-Image-400x266.jpg)
Apr 7, 2020
Louisiana’s Suspension of Due Process Could Be a COVID-19 Catastrophe in Jails and Prisons
![An incarcerated prison looking at a corrections officer separated by bars and a thick plastic barrier.](https://assets.aclu.org/live/uploads/2020/03/WEB20-Corrections-Officer-Incarcerated-Person-Bars-BlogImage-WordPress-1110x740-1-400x266.jpg)
Mar 18, 2020
Police, Prosecutors, Sheriffs, Parole Officers, and Governors can Help Stop the Spread of COVID-19 — Here’s How
![A photo collage of two lawyers, one shaded blue and one shaded red, against a white background with bits of text from legal documents layered over them and in the background](https://assets.aclu.org/live/uploads/2020/02/prosecutors-full-bleed-400x266.jpg)
Feb 18, 2020
It’s Time to Transform What it Means to be a Prosecutor
![A gavel and a pair of handcuffs on a pile of money.](https://assets.aclu.org/live/uploads/2020/02/web20-nashvillebail-blogimage-wordpress-1110x740-400x266.jpg)
Feb 5, 2020
Using Bail as Ransom Violates the Core Tenets of Pretrial Justice
![plea bargaining](https://assets.aclu.org/live/uploads/2020/01/Plea-Bargaining_Blog-Image1-400x266.jpg)
Jan 13, 2020
Coercive Plea Bargaining Has Poisoned the Criminal Justice System. It’s Time to Suck the Venom Out.
![](https://assets.aclu.org/live/uploads/2019/12/Michigan-Sentencing-BlogHeader-Image-1-400x266.jpg)
Dec 24, 2019
Across the Country Harsh Sentencing Laws are Tearing Apart Families and Communities