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Race and Justice News: Uplifting Progress
Explore news related to race and justice happening across the country.
Related to: Racial Justice
This year, advocates have continued to advance meaningful reforms across the criminal legal system — from restoring voting rights to people with felony convictions and protecting young people from prosecution in adult courts to limiting extreme sentences. This issue of Race and Justice News uplifts this progress. The pieces shared below offer a look at the changes taking shape and the work that still lies ahead.
Policy & Legislation
Missouri and Virginia Restore Voting Rights to Over 100,000
On August 28, more than 40,000 formerly incarcerated Missourians will regain their right to vote under new legislation signed into law last month. Governor Mike Kehoe signed GOP-backed elections bill, House Bill 1871, that included a provision restoring voting rights to thousands of people completing parole and felony probation in their communities. The breakthrough of the bipartisan bill is largely credited to the advocacy of Rep. Melanie Stinnett, R-Springfield, who developed an interest in the topic after meeting someone who was disenfranchised while campaigning for her seat a few years ago.
Speaking to KCUR in Kansas City, Stinnett said, “If we can get people engaged and keep them out of our jails and prisons, then I think we should be doing everything we can to support that type of legislation.”
Although a significant step towards creating a more inclusive democracy, gaps remain. People on felony probation or parole who were convicted of certain crimes, including murder, child endangerment, first or second-degree assault, first-degree burglary, stalking, and incest, are excluded from this year’s reform. The law also does not apply to those who are currently incarcerated.
Meanwhile, in Virginia, Governor Abigail Spanberger’s administration has restored voting rights to more than 66,000 Virginians with past felony convictions since taking office in January. The administration has revamped the restoration process to proactively identify eligible individuals and streamline reviews for those who have completed their sentences. The development comes as Virginia also prepares for a November ballot measure that could amend the state Constitution to make voting rights restoration automatic upon release from incarceration.
In her statement announcing the restoration of voting rights, Spanberger said, “This fall, voters can cast their ballots for Virginia to no longer strip so many of our neighbors of their fundamental rights — a shameful relic of our Jim Crow past. I hope Virginians will join me in voting yes.”
Currently, Virginia is one of a few states that permanently disenfranchises individuals with felony convictions unless the governor restores their rights. If the referendum passes, it will largely remove governors from the restoration process.
Maryland Passes Legislation to Curb Youth Autocharging
This spring, lawmakers in Maryland passed the Youth Charging Reform Act (YCRA), legislation that limits use of the harmful practice of automatically charging youth as adults by narrowing the list of offenses that require 16- and 17-year-olds to begin their cases in adult court. The Act ensures that almost half of future cases that previously would have started in adult court will now begin in juvenile court.
The importance of this reform is underscored by the longstanding racial disparities in Maryland’s youth charging practices. From 2009 to 2024, Black youth accounted for 80% of those charged as adults in the state. The Youth Charging Reform Act protects young people, particularly Black children, from the enduring effects of choices made during adolescence by limiting their exposure to adult court. Although additional reforms are needed to ensure that all youth cases begin in juvenile court, this legislation marks a meaningful step in the right direction.
In the Courts
Pennsylvania Ends Mandatory Life Sentences for Felony Murder
In a landmark decision, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled in Commonwealth v. Lee that mandatory life without parole sentences for second degree murder, also known as felony murder, violate the state’s constitutional prohibition against “cruel punishment” without an individual assessment of culpability. Under the felony murder doctrine, an individual can be charged and prosecuted for murder, even if they did not directly cause or intend the loss of life. Felony murder has been widely criticized for producing unjust outcomes, particularly because of its disproportionate impact on Black individuals and young people. More than two-thirds of those sentenced under this statute in the state are Black.
At the end of the legislative session, Pennsylvania lawmakers were unable to reach a consensus on rewriting the second-degree murder sentencing scheme, leaving the matter unresolved and the fate of over 1,000 lifers in limbo.
Michigan Supreme Court Limits Extreme Sentencing
Two recent Michigan Supreme Court decisions provide important new protections against extreme sentences.
In People v. Langston, the Court ruled that people sentenced to mandatory life without parole for felony murder convictions from before 1980 may be entitled to relief when their cases did not establish the required intent to kill. For those who qualify, the decision creates a pathway to seek parole after decades in prison.
In People v. Eads, the Court held that a 50-to-75-year sentence imposed on a 16-year-old was unconstitutional because it amounted to a “de facto” life sentence. For the first time, the Court recognized that the constitutional protections afforded to young people facing life sentences also apply to lengthy term-of-years sentences that effectively amount to life imprisonment. The ruling recognizes that young people have a unique capacity for growth and change and that sentences imposed during youth must account for that. It also opens the door for others serving similarly extreme sentences to seek resentencing.
Movement & Advocacy
Diagnosing the Trauma of Incarceration
In a recent essay for Inquest, incarcerated writer James Sheffield examines the lasting psychological effects of incarceration and argues that prison-related trauma deserves greater recognition and treatment. Drawing on nearly five decades of his own experience behind bars, Sheffield describes how constant exposure to violence, threats, isolation, and survival-based behaviors can leave people hypervigilant, distrustful, emotionally disconnected, and struggling to navigate life after release.
Sheffield highlights the concept of Post-Incarceration Syndrome (PICS), a term coined in 2001 to describe the persistent psychological effects of incarceration. While research has documented the mental-health consequences of imprisonment for decades, PICS is not currently recognized as a distinct psychiatric disorder. Sheffield argues that formal recognition could help expand access to mental-health treatment and reduce the stigma surrounding the psychological consequences of incarceration.
Art, Culture, and Storytelling
Redemption Songs
The Marshall Project’s limited-run newsletter, Redemption Songs, highlights one song each week created behind bars. Spanning nearly a century of American prison music, from blues and gospel to soul, country, hip-hop, and opera, the music and its history reveal how creative outlets in prison offer a pathway to rehabilitation, redemption, and resistance.
Incarcerated artists have used their creativity to process isolation, maintain connections with loved ones, challenge the systems surrounding them, and imagine lives beyond prison. The series includes the 1970s soul group The Escorts, whose music was recorded inside a New Jersey prison and later sampled by major artists. It also features gospel artist Kirk Franklin and Maverick City Music who sang with men in a Florida prison. Other highlights are incarcerated musicians using prison phones, recording equipment, and collaborations with outside artists to make their voices heard.
The series captures the power of music to transcend prison walls and remind us of our shared humanity.
Facts Only
Missouri House Bill 1871 restores voting rights to over 40,000 people completing parole and felony probation.
Missouri's law excludes individuals convicted of murder, child endangerment, first or second-degree assault, first-degree burglary, stalking, and incest.
Governor Abigail Spanberger's administration restored voting rights to over 66,000 Virginians with past felony convictions since January.
Virginia is considering a November ballot measure to make voting rights restoration automatic upon release from incarceration.
Maryland passed the Youth Charging Reform Act (YCRA) to limit the automatic charging of 16- and 17-year-olds as adults.
Black youth accounted for 80% of those charged as adults in Maryland from 2009 to 2024.
The Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled in Commonwealth v. Lee that mandatory life without parole for second-degree murder violates the state constitution.
Over 1,000 individuals in Pennsylvania are currently serving life sentences under the second-degree murder statute.
In People v. Langston, the Michigan Supreme Court allowed parole eligibility for certain felony murder convictions from before 1980.
In People v. Eads, the Michigan Supreme Court ruled that a 50-to-75-year sentence for a 16-year-old constituted an unconstitutional "de facto" life sentence.
Incarcerated writer James Sheffield proposed the formal recognition of Post-Incarceration Syndrome (PICS).
The Marshall Project published a series called "Redemption Songs" featuring music created by incarcerated artists.
Executive Summary
Recent legal shifts across several U.S. states indicate a trend toward reducing the severity of criminal sentencing and expanding civil rights for formerly incarcerated individuals. In Missouri and Virginia, tens of thousands of citizens have regained voting rights through a combination of bipartisan legislation and executive action, though specific exclusions for violent crimes remain in Missouri. Similarly, Maryland has moved to reduce the number of juveniles processed in adult courts to address significant racial disparities in youth charging.
Judicial rulings in Pennsylvania and Michigan have challenged the constitutionality of extreme sentences. These courts have specifically targeted mandatory life sentences for felony murder and "de facto" life sentences for minors, citing the capacity for adolescent growth and the need for individual culpability assessments. While these rulings create pathways for parole or resentencing, legislative delays in some states leave the status of many prisoners uncertain. Parallel to these policy shifts, there is an emerging focus on the psychological trauma of imprisonment and the role of creative expression in rehabilitation.
Full Take
The strongest version of this narrative is that the American legal system is undergoing a corrective phase, transitioning from a "tough on crime" era of mandatory minimums and permanent disenfranchisement toward a model of proportional justice and rehabilitation. This shift is framed as a necessary response to systemic racial disparities and a growing judicial recognition of human development.
The narrative relies on a pattern of progress, juxtaposing specific legislative wins against a backdrop of historical injustice. It creates a sense of momentum by grouping diverse actions—executive orders, court rulings, and grassroots essays—into a singular trajectory of "uplifting progress." While the facts are grounded in specific cases, the framing suggests a systemic pivot that may be more fragmented than presented, as evidenced by the legislative deadlock in Pennsylvania and the specific crime exclusions in Missouri.
Patterns detected: none
The driving paradigm is one of restorative justice, assuming that the primary failure of the legal system is an over-reliance on retribution and a failure to recognize the humanity of the incarcerated. This echoes the historical shift from the punitive logic of the Jim Crow era to a civil-rights-based approach to governance. The primary beneficiaries are the incarcerated and formerly incarcerated, while the perceived cost is a reduction in the "certainty" of extreme punishment.
If this were a coordinated influence campaign, a bad actor would use "success stacking"—grouping unrelated minor wins to create an illusion of an inevitable systemic collapse of the current order to discourage opposing legislative efforts. The content here does not match that pattern; it acknowledges remaining gaps and unresolved legislative tensions.
Bridge Questions:
1. How do these reforms affect public safety metrics, and is there a measurable correlation between voting rights restoration and recidivism?
2. What are the legal arguments used by those opposing the "de facto" life sentence rulings in Michigan?
3. How would the formal medical recognition of Post-Incarceration Syndrome change the liability of the state in managing prison conditions?