What is Second Chance Month?
National Second Chance Month, supports the safe and successful reintegration of formerly incarcerated individuals to rebuild their lives, strengthen communities, and reunite with their loved ones.
This month also serves as a time to reflect on the work that still needs to be done to end life and long-term sentences—and to give all people the chance to come home.
In the U.S. 1 in 3 adults have some type of criminal record. This can result in an array of complex barriers to stand in the way of successful re-entry upon their release. These obstacles include complex challenges with securing education, employment, housing, affordable healthcare, family reunification and more.
Research shows that the state of Montana incarcerates a higher percentage of its people than any other democratic country in the world, with a rate of 789 per 100,000 people.
BIPOC; LGBTQ+ individuals; and people with histories of abuse or mental illness are most often disproportionately affected.
Specifically, Montana state data shows that Indigenous people comprise about 7% of the Montana state population but are at least 20% of the state prison population. Indigenous people account for:
- 34% of the women’s state prison population
- 20% of the men’s state prison population
- 27% of the state’s arrests for failures to appear in court or for probation or parole violations
Stigma surrounding formerly incarcerated individuals
Stigmatization, negative stereotypes, and public mistrust are the main barriers that keep formerly incarcerated individuals from successfully re-entering society. These barriers deny them the opportunity to become productive participants in their communities.
The Barriers:
- Formerly incarcerated people are 10 times more likely to experience homelessness than the national average.
- 91% of people beginning their re-entry transition report not having regular access to nutritious food.
- Formerly incarcerated people are unemployed at a rate of over 27%, more than six times higher than the unemployment rate for the general U.S. population.
“Second Look” Laws for Currently Incarcerated Individuals
Today, the U.S. currently incarcerates nearly 2 million people—a 500% increase over the last 40 years. As of 2020, one in seven people in U.S. prisons was serving a life sentence.
These statistics starkly represent the rippling effects that mass incarceration has on our society. Research has shown that extreme sentencing as a deterrent to crime is not just inhumane and ineffective, but counterproductive for public safety.
“Second Look” laws help to create mechanisms of release to help give incarcerated people meaningful second chances—reuniting families, restoring communities, and mitigating the effects of mass incarceration. These laws allow courts to review and reconsider a person’s sentence after 10 or 15 years served to determine whether a shorter sentence is appropriate based upon factors of age, character improvement and length of time served.
MTIP to Begin Examining ‘Second Chances’ for Unjustly Incarcerated Montanans
The Montana Innocence Project is beginning the exciting work of digging into how we can meaningfully address not only wrongful convictions but also unjust incarceration, through a Second Chance lens.
MTIP is actively engaging with cross-sector partners and preparing to host community listening sessions to examine these issues and develop viable solutions in Montana.
Now more than ever, it is crucial that we continue the important work of raising awareness about sentencing reform, as well as the barriers formerly incarcerated people face upon reentry.
We could not be more grateful for the support of organizational partners in making this next phase of MTIP’s work possible. We look forward to sharing more details in the coming months about this process!