An Election Day 2024 review and round-up on some sentencing fronts

I had the honor and privilege of casting my ballot a few days ago, and I always get a real thrill out of exercising the franchise.  Living in the greatest democracy in world history makes me so pleased and proud no matter how the voting turns out.  (I am also pleased that, at least for a few months, I'll no longer have to endure political commercial after political commercial or a steady stream of emails and texts asking for political donations.)  I hope voting proves as easy and as joyful for everyone else as it was for me.

Election 2024 has been about a lot of topics, many touching on criminal justice matters in various ways.  And, of course, the major candidates for president this year both have notable criminal justice histories.  Sentencing law and policy issues have arising in more than a few contexts, and the topical archive "Campaign 2024 and sentencing issues" includes notable and numerous posts on topics ranging from the death penalty to the First Step Act to puplic polling on crime issues and inmate surveys on political issues.

Because I am a big fan of direct democracy and the mertric it provides on how voters are thinking about specific issues, I am especially interest to see outcomes of a handful of ballot initiatives this year.  And here is a quick review of some recent posts spotlighting some of the criminal justice ballot measures I will be following:  

• Noting how California initiative to roll back Prop 47 is creating political divide 
• Rounding up some recent coverage and commentary on Prop 36 in California
• Noting some interesting data around Colorado's Proposition 128 to restrict parole eligibility
• Updated DEPC resource reviews "Drugs on the Ballot" 2024 (and in prior elections)
• Ever the criminal justice reform populist, former Prez Trump signals support for marijuana legalization in Florida and elsewhere

Of course, there are so many more issues and candidates that should be of interest for those following criminal justice reform and every other topic.  IN this area, I always recommend Bolts as a great resource for trying to keep up with a wide array of election (and crimianl justice) issues.  This helpful page "What’s on the Ballot" for 2024 is a great reminder of just how many decision the people get to make today.