WILMINGTON, Del. — Smart Justice took center stage during the last week of this year’s legislative session—and ultimately stole the show.
On March 15, 2019, several legislators and newly-elected Attorney General Kathy Jennings held a press conference to announce a sweeping package of 19 criminal justice reform bills. These bills represented an important shift in the way that elected officials were tackling criminal justice: moving away from “tough-on-crime” approaches, acknowledging and addressing the racial disparities in the system, doing more to keep juveniles out of the system, and creating more avenues for success when a person leaves prison.
The package of 19 bills represented the “boldest package of criminal justice reforms in modern Delaware history," according to Attorney General Kathy Jennings—and she was right. That’s why the Delaware Campaign for Smart Justice, a campaign of the ACLU of Delaware, threw their support behind the package from day one.
The Campaign formed the Delaware Coalition for Smart Justice, an advocacy group filled with community stakeholders who were ready to take on the task of reviewing and advocating for the bills in the package that would have the most impact on our campaign goals.
A new force emerged from the campaign, too—the Game Changers, a community-based advocacy group made up of people directly impacted by the criminal justice system.
The Delaware Campaign for Smart Justice, the Coalition for Smart Justice, and Game Changers collectively worked throughout this year’s legislative session to advocate for the 19 bills in the criminal justice reform package, with special attention paid to those that would have the most impact – like adult expungement, sentencing reform, and reforming Delaware’s drug code.
When the 150th General Assembly went on break after a long day in session on Sunday, June 30, 11 of those 19 bills had passed the legislature. Governor Carney has already signed two of those 11 bills and the remaining nine are on their way to his desk for review.
Here’s an overview of all 11 bills that passed:
- HB 5: Concurrent Sentencing. Returns concurrent sentencing discretion to judges and leaving only 9 crimes that must still be sentenced consecutively.
- SS 1 for SB 37 w/ SA 1: Adult Expungment. Creates adult expungement opportunities for most misdemeanors and felonies after a 3-7 year waiting period (depending on the underlying crime) without another conviction.
- SB 47 w/ SA 1: Drug Reform. Reduces sentencing disparities for convictions in the city by eliminating sentence enhancement for drug possession near a school, church, or public park, removes sentence aggravators for prior convictions, and changes the weight tiers for controlled substance offenses to reflect actual use patterns.
- HB 124: HVAC and Plumbing License. Amends licensing bills to exclude fewer people with criminal histories from applying for and obtaining these licenses.
- HB 7 w/ HA 1: Massage and Bodywork License. Amends licensing bills to exclude fewer people with criminal histories from applying for and obtaining this license.
- SB 43: Electrician License. Amends licensing bills to exclude fewer people with criminal histories from applying for and obtaining the this license.
- SB 44 w/ HA 1: Underage Alcohol. Changes underage possession and consumption of alcohol to a civil offense.
- SB 45 w/ SA 1: Underage Marijuana. Changes the possession or consumption of marijuana by a person under the age of 21 to a civil violation.
- SB 60 w/ HA 4: Underage Prostitution. No one under the age of 18 can be convicted of prostitution.
- HB 102 w/ HA 1: Human Trafficking Expungement. Allows a person who was a human trafficking victim to expunge their record and overturn the conviction for any crime committed as a result of being a victim of human trafficking with no wait period.
- SB 41: Family Court Age. Mandates that the age of offense, not age of arrest, dictates family court or superior court (i.e. treatment as a juvenile verses an adult).
In just one year, the Campaign for Smart Justice shifted the conversation away from the failed rhetoric of “tough on crime.” They’ve held our legislators accountable for keeping their promises to enact real, meaningful reform, and they’ve engaged a community of people who are ready to continue the fight until racially-charged mass incarceration in Delaware is a part of our history, not our present.
This kind of success would not have been possible without the efforts of everyone involved with the Campaign for Smart Justice, the Coalition for Smart Justice and the Game Changers. For a full list of those involved and to read more about this exciting win, please visit .
The Campaign for Smart Justice would also like to extend well-earned recognition to the elected officials who sponsored, worked on, and voted for these impactful bills. Attorney General Kathy Jennings, Senator Darius Brown, Senator Nicole Poore, and Representative Valerie Longhurst, among many others, led the charge for change this year—and the impact that will have on Delawareans’ lives will be felt for years to come. Thank you!
Learn More About the Issues in This Press Release
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Press ReleaseDec 2024
Prisoners' Rights
Criminal Law Reform
ACLU Sues Bureau of Prisons for Keeping People in Prison Longer Than the Law AllowsACLU Sues Bureau of Prisons for Keeping People in Prison Longer Than the Law Allows
WASHINGTON – A federal lawsuit brought today by the American Civil Liberties Union, ACLU of D.C., and Jenner & Block LLP challenges the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) for unlawfully incarcerating people longer than the law allows under the First Step Act. The lawsuit contends that the BOP’s failure to implement the First Step Act according to its plain language violates the rights of thousands of people who should be returning to their communities and rebuilding their lives but instead remain incarcerated. Signed into law in 2018 by then-President Donald Trump, the bipartisan First Step Act was designed to reduce the population in federal prisons, reform extreme sentencing laws, and provide programming and reentry transition services to people in prison. Central to the First Step Act is a system of earned time credits, which allows people in prison to earn time off their sentences and time out of prison by participating in rehabilitation programs. Through the First Step Act, Congress unambiguously ordered BOP to move people out of prison when they meet certain requirements to use their earned time credits. Instead of faithfully following the mandatory law, BOP adopted a regulation treating the law as optional. As a result, thousands of people, who should already be back in their communities and with their families, remain in prison. “Every extra unlawful day our clients spend in prison is a serious injustice,” said Emma Andersson, deputy director of the Criminal Law Reform Project at the ACLU. “It is egregious that the Bureau of Prisons is imprisoning people for months longer than the law allows. The government must follow through on its legal obligation to get people out of prison on time and back into their communities, where they belong.” Additional comments below from: Vanessa Crowe, plaintiff: “Time is what I owed for my wrongdoing, and I have paid my time. But I should not have to spend more time in prison than the law allows. I often reflect on what I will miss during the months after when I should be out of prison. I will miss work and lose out on wages that would help me get back on my feet. I could be a tax paying citizen instead of a burden on society. But most of all, I will miss more precious time with my family. My family and I are ready to tum the page on this period in our lives — we are all ready to start a new life, a life with purpose, hope, and healing together. I want to start that life when I am legally entitled to start it-not five months later.” Arthur Spitzer, senior counsel at ACLU of D.C.: “There’s no excuse for the Bureau of Prisons to pretend not to understand Congress’s clear command that people who have earned the right to early release must be released. This law has been on the books for six years. The Bureau of Prisons has had plenty of time to understand it. Law enforcers should obey the law.” Betsy Henthorne, partner at Jenner & Block: “It has been six years since the First Step Act was signed, but despite Congress’s clear directives, the Bureau of Prisons continues to hold thousands of people in prison longer than the law allows. We should and do expect better—it’s past time for the BOP to ensure that those who have earned their release are able to return home to their families and communities according to the law Congress passed.” -
Maryland Supreme CourtDec 2024
Criminal Law Reform
Roland Branch v. State of MarylandRoland Branch v. State of Maryland
This petition to the Supreme Court of Maryland asked the court to reconsider its adherence to Whren v. U.S., 517 U.S. 806 (1996), which declared that a traffic stop undertaken for pretextual reasons does not violate the Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution so long as the police have probable cause to believe that a traffic violation occurred. The ACLU, alongside the ACLU of Maryland, filed an amicus brief in support of the defendant’s petition, in which the ACLU argued that the court should take up the question of whether pretextual stops violate the Maryland Constitution. In September 2024, the Court denied the petition. -
North Carolina Supreme CourtDec 2024
Criminal Law Reform
State v. WrightState v. Wright
This case in the North Carolina Supreme Court involves the question of whether the police violated the U.S. Constitution when they searched the defendant, Mr. Wright’s, backpack even after he repeatedly said no to the search requests. The ACLU alongside the ACLU of North Carolina filed an amicus brief arguing that the search was unconstitutional because Mr. Wright’s eventual “consent” was the result of police coercion. Our brief urges the court to consider the totality of the circumstances that make one more susceptible to coercion, including race and poverty. -
News & CommentaryDec 2024
Criminal Law Reform
Disability Rights
Incarceration Should Not be a Death Sentence for Individuals Who Use OpioidsIncarceration Should Not be a Death Sentence for Individuals Who Use Opioids
New litigation centered on increasing access to substance-use disorder treatment in jails and prisons is helping to reduce mortality rates among incarcerated individuals.