Ongoing Concerns

  • Inadequate legislative budgets for the Iowa Department of Corrections, resulting in reduced staffing levels and limiting effective programming for those incarcerated by the State.
  • Racial disparity in Iowa prisons.  The number of African-Americans incarcerated in Iowa is significantly disproportionate to their representation in Iowa’s general population.
  • Strengthening juvenile justice programs.
  • Restructuring mandatory minimum sentences.
  • Massive debt incurred by individuals as they make their way through our judicial and prison systems, impacting efforts to rebuild their lives when released from prison.
  • Employment opportunities for individuals who have served their prison sentences and are trying to become productive members of our communities.
  • Rules in a great many apartment complexes which exclude anyone with a felony conviction from ever being allowed to rent an apartment, hindering efforts of individuals to rebuild their lives.