While criminal justice reform has been slow at the federal level in 2021, some states have passed major reforms like eliminating money bail and reducing lengthy prison sentences that can be legislative templates for other states in 2022.

The Prison Policy Initiative, a nonprofit research and advocacy institute focused on ending mass incarceration, last week released its annual guide on 30 state legislative reforms that could have significant impact on the criminal justice system without added financial costs.

The report, titled "Winnable Criminal Justice Reforms in 2022," noted that many of the bills and legislation it included from 2021 and previous years could be improved, and lawmakers may need to modify proposed legislation to address their states' specific problems.

"Because each state's criminal legal system varies so much — from law and procedures, the data collected, and even how the same words are defined — it can be difficult to apply lessons from other states to the same problem in one's own," the Dec. 15 report said.

Here are three legislative reforms from the report that states could implement in 2022:

Eliminating Money Bail

Policies that require people who face criminal charges to pay money for pretrial release puts pressure on individuals who can't afford bail to accept plea bargains even if they are innocent, according to the report.

Staying in jail even for a few days can derail people's lives causing them to lose their jobs, homes and custody of their children, the report said.

In January, Illinois passed a model bail reform law — the Pretrial Fairness Act, or H.B. 3653 — that made a number of changes to the state's criminal justice system including ending money bail and restricting eligibility for pretrial detention, according to the report.

"When this legislation takes effect, it will make roughly 80% of people arrested in Cook County (Chicago) each year ineligible for pretrial detention," the report said.

Reducing Long Prison Sentences

According to the report, mandatory minimum sentencing and sentencing enhancements have exponentially increased incarceration rates and not improved public safety while leaving people in prison for decades.

The Prison Policy Initiative recommends that states make it easier for people sentenced to decades in prison to have their sentences reduced and to eliminate mandatory minimum sentencing laws.

In April, California passed A.B. 1245 that allows a person who has served 15 years or more to directly petition a court for a sentence reduction.

"While many states have taken laudable steps to reduce the number of people serving time for low-level offenses, little has been done to bring relief to people needlessly serving decades in prison," the report said.

Allowing Jurors With Convictions

One main reason that juries lack diversity is prohibiting people who have been convicted, or sometimes just accused, of a crime from serving on juries, according to the report.

"These laws bar more than 20 million people from jury service, reduce jury diversity by disproportionately excluding Black and Latinx people, and actually cause juries to deliberate less effectively," the report said.

The report suggests that states eliminate policies that bar people with criminal histories including felonies and misdemeanors from serving on juries.

In June, Louisiana passed H.B. 84, discontinuing the state's lifetime ban on jury service for individuals who were formerly incarcerated and allowing them to serve on a jury after five years of release from prison, probation and parole.

--Editing by Katherine Rautenberg.

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