2 years into Nebraska’s prison overcrowding emergency, ACLU says not much has been done

LINCOLN, Neb. (KLKN) – This month marked the second-year anniversary of Gov. Pete Ricketts declaring a state emergency due to overcrowding issues in Nebraska’s state prisons.

Organizations just like the American Civil Liberties Union say not a lot that has been carried out since and are elevating their voices to let politicians know they’re taking note of the scenario.

“For 2 strong years our prisons have been dangerously overcrowded,” mentioned Spike Eickholt, the ACLU of Nebraska’s authorities liaison.  “Final legislative session, the Legislature and the governor had a possibility to implement a few of these suggestions when the CJI group got here to Nebraska and provided some concrete options that would scale back the jail inhabitants issues.”

The Crime and Justice Institute carried out a examine on the Nebraska jail inhabitants and handed it over to a bunch of Nebraska stakeholders, who got here up with 21 coverage options.

However the Legislature did not move LB 920, which was born out of the CJI examine, within the final session.

ACLU board member Jason Witmer was within the correctional system lengthy earlier than he grew to become an advocate.

“The issue with the overcrowding in our state has come from this tough on crime coverage,” he mentioned. “And it’s not working. In truth, it’s doing the alternative of working. It’s doing extra hurt than good for everyone.”

The newest obtainable quarterly report from the Nebraska Division of Correctional Providers exhibits the state’s prisons are collectively at 152% of design capability.

Numbers additionally present that there are disparities on the subject of race and ethnicity.

“Black individuals make up 5% of the Nebraska inhabitants, however they virtually make 30% of the jail inhabitants,” Eickholt mentioned. “It’s the identical development with overrepresentation of Native Individuals and Hispanics.”

The ACLU of Nebraska is hopeful that the subsequent Legislature passes insurance policies to decrease the jail inhabitants.