According to Washington Monthly, President Donald Trump’s second term has leaned heavily into tough-on-crime rhetoric, proposing the reopening of Alcatraz, supporting Florida’s migrant detention site known as “Alligator Alcatraz,” and backing deportations to third countries and prisons such as El Salvador’s megaprison.

These moves are meant to send a message. As Washington Monthly put it, “the message is unmistakable: strength is demonstrated through visible severity.”

Because of this, many people assume criminal justice reform is losing momentum. However, there is more happening beyond the surface. Reform has not disappeared; it has simply become less visible and is progressing in different ways.

During Trump’s first term, reform peaked with the First Step Act in 2018. The law expanded recidivism-reduction programs, allowed sentence reductions for good behavior, banned restraints on pregnant incarcerated people, and reduced sentencing disparities.

That moment looked very different from today’s political climate. Since then, rising crime during the pandemic and debates over policing have shifted public attention.

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Criminal Justice Reform Advances Beyond the Headlines - Davis Vanguard

davisvanguard.org

Despite President Trump's tough-on-crime rhetoric, criminal justice reform is still progressing through incremental changes at the state level, such as the Survivor Justice Act in Georgia and the Safer Supervision Act at the federal level.

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Medicaid Managed Care Plan Alignment With State Substance Use Disorder Treatment Coverage Requirements

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Medicaid Managed Care Plan Alignment With State Substance Use Disorder Treatment Coverage Requirements | Milbank Quarterly

www.milbank.org

Medicaid is the largest payer of substance use disorder (SUD) treatment in the United States. Managed care plays an important role, administering benefits for more than 80% of Medicaid enrollees. While state governments have enacted coverage requirements for SUD treatment medications that managed ca...

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The Department of Justice (DOJ) announced on Friday that it will resume the federal use of capital punishment, and that it is seeking death sentences against 44 defendants. The DOJ also said that it will use firing squads, electrocution, or nitrogen asphyxiation if the drug used in lethal injection is unavailable.

The announcement follows the Restoring and Strengthening the Federal Death Penalty report, published on April 24. The report is especially critical of the moratorium on federal executions, ordered by Attorney General Merrick Garland in July 2021, to remain until the death penalty could be conducted “fairly and humanely.” Garland was concerned about the federal lethal injection protocol, which uses only one drug, pentobarbital, and the possibility that it causes “unnecessary pain and suffering.” In response to Garland’s moratorium and concerns, President Biden commuted the sentences of 37 prisoners on federal death row, leaving only three prisoners.

Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said: “The prior administration failed in its duty to protect the American people by refusing to pursue and carry out the ultimate punishment against the most dangerous criminals… Under President Trump’s leadership, the Department of Justice is once again enforcing the law and standing with victims.”

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US Department of Justice announces decision to resume federal executions

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Exploring Concerns About Discretion and Disparity in Second Look Sentencing

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Exploring Concerns About Discretion and Disparity in Second Look Sentencing

racism.org

Abstract Excerpted From: Douglas A. Berman, Exploring Concerns About Discretion and Disparity in Second Look Sentencing, 59 Akron L. Rev. 595 (2026) (64 Footnotes) (Full Document) A striking development in American criminal justice systems in recent years has been the emergence and expansion of what...

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