Justice Reinvestment Act - The Legislation
North
Carolina's Justice Reinvestment Act represents the most
significant change to the state's criminal sentencing laws since
the Structured Sentencing Act was implemented in 1994. It
is a data-driven bipartisan approach to criminal justice policy.
North Carolina has shown remarkable progress since the legislation was signed in 2011.
Accomplishments at the five-year point since passage are highlighted in Justice Reinvestment Performance Measures - March 2016.
The Council of State Governments noted accomplishments at the three-year mark in its report "Justice Reinvestment in North Carolina: Three Years Later". An accompanying infographic gives a good visual picture of the success story.
Ratified
by the NC General Assembly and signed by Governor Bev Perdue in June
2011, the Justice Reinvestment Act is codified as
House Bill 642 / Session Law 2011-192. Subsequent changes
and technical corrections to the bill were made in
House Bill 335. MORE INFORMATION
- The Justice Reinvestment Act: An Overview - UNC School of Government Criminal Law blog
- Justice Reinvestment Resource Page - UNC School of Government
- Felony Sentencing grid - effective for crimes on or after Dec. 1, 2011
- Citizen's Guide to Structured Sentencing - 2012 edition
- Legislation summary from July 2011 edition of Correction News