Reviewing recent developments as more states consider second-look sentencing reviews

Stateline has this new piece on the growing interest at the state level of second-look sentencing reviews.  The piece is worth a full read, though its themes are summarized in the full headline: "Efforts to release prisoners from long sentences draw new interest: But many of the proposed policies have failed this year."  Here are a few excerpts (with links from the original):

As America’s prison population both ages and increases, the “second look” movement has gained interest as a way to reduce overcrowding and potentially save money. Both Republicans and Democrats have sponsored the bills, but some advocates and prosecutors say the laws could retraumatize crime victims and further burden a strained court system.

Still, at least one second look bill, in Oklahoma, was signed into law this year. The new law, which is set to go into effect soon, requires judges to consider whether domestic violence was a mitigating factor in a crime. If so, a defendant would be eligible for a lighter sentence compared with the usual mandatory ranges....

Some sentencing experts and criminal justice advocates think second look legislation could draw bipartisan support because the measures aim to address prison overcrowding and overspending by releasing people who are least likely to reoffend.

“It can be a way to address excess spending,” said Liz Komar, sentencing reform counsel with The Sentencing Project, a nonprofit criminal justice research and advocacy group. “We can reinvest scarce public safety dollars from being uselessly employed to keep people who are zero risk in prison to instead prevent crime in the community.”

At least 12 states already have second look measures in place, according to the group’s legislative tracker. The existing second look laws vary, with some allowing courts to reconsider sentences based on conditions such as an offender’s age at the time of the offense and amount of time served, and others allowing prosecutors to request the court reconsider a sentence....

Debate over second look policies has been intense. Some prosecutors, victim rights groups and family members of crime victims have voiced concerns that victims and their families could be retraumatized by the resentencing process.

Some fear that these policies could be abused. Others worry about overburdened prosecutors having to handle an influx of resentencing cases.