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BOSTON -- House and Senate progressives, eager to seize whatever momentum there might be for comprehensive criminal justice reform this session, implored their colleagues Tuesday not to let the chance slip by to overhaul all aspects of the justice system.

The lawmakers, many of whom are black and Latino, said they sense an opportunity over the next year and half to capitalize on the completion of an independent review of the Massachusetts criminal justice system.

At a press conference in the midst of the second day of debate in the House on the state's annual budget, the lawmakers said reforms must include changes to sentencing laws as well as bail reform, parole reform and improvements to mental health and substance abuse treatment for inmates.

They used the occasion of the House budget debate to draw attention to the issues as lawmakers, lobbyists and reporters buzzed around the capitol and the House chamber.

"We believe that the discussion and the publicity around the release of the (Council of State Governments) report in February has moved many of our colleagues to look at accomplishing criminal justice reforms at every stage of the justice system. We believe we are ready this session to address the whole spectrum of criminal justice processes," said Assistant House Majority Leader Byron Rushing.

Following the release of the CSG report, Gov. Charlie Baker filed legislation with the support of House Speaker Robert DeLeo and Senate President Stanley Rosenberg that took a rather narrow approach to reform.

The bill focused on allowing prisoners to reduce their time of incarceration by participating in jail and prison programs aimed at reducing recidivism and making the transition back into the community easier for offenders.

House Speaker Robert DeLeo earlier on Tuesday called the governor's bill a "great start," and suggested his focus might be on passing the governor's bill first and allowing other ideas to percolate.

"I fully expect there are going to be other pieces of legislation that we're going to be dealing with to supplement what we will be doing," DeLeo said.

Rushing said he did not have a problem with the speaker's comment. "We're not insisting on a process. We're insisting on an end," the South End Democrat said.

The rally outside the House chamber with criminal justice reform advocates was organized by the Legislature's Progressive Caucus, the Black and Latino Caucus, the Harm Reduction Caucus and the Caucus of Women Legislators' Task Force on Justice Involved Women.

Rep. Mary Keefe, a Worcester Democrat, said bail reform must be part of any overhaul, citing statistics from an unnamed county in Massachusetts where bail amounts are four times higher for blacks than whites and black arrestees account for 25 percent of pretrial detainees despite representing just 2.4 percent of the county population.

"We know that our present practices disproportionately impact the poor and people of color," Keefe said.

Sen. Sonia Chang-Diaz, who has filed a more comprehensive reform bill, said black and Latino residents make up less than one-fifth of the state's population, but account for half of the incarcerated population and 75 percent of the population serving mandatory minimum sentences.

"Justice, we can all agree, should be color blind, but today there is no denying the complexion of incarceration in our state," Chang-Diaz said.

The Jamaica Plain Democrat said reforming sentencing laws would save money that she said could be reinvested into mental health and substance abuse treatment. "When we incarcerate fewer non-violent offenders, focusing our resources instead on drug treatment and poverty alleviation, we are saving taxpayer dollars," she said.

Rep. Paul Heroux, an Attleboro Democrat who once worked for the Department of Correction, said any reforms must be accompanied by more complete data collection to measure whether policies are achieving their goals.

Rep. Christine Barber, of Somerville, said women who make up a growing portion of the state's inmate population also have twice as many cases of mental illness and "longer histories" of substance abuse. Female inmates, she said, are often mothers with sole custody of their children at the time of their arrest.

"We need to make sure 100 percent of people who need care are getting it," Barber said, arguing lawmakers could help "break the cycle of orphaned children."

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House progressives are making criminal justice reform a priority - Sentinel & Enterprise