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Today, the U.S. has the highest incarceration rate of any country in the world. With over 2.3 million men and women living behind bars, our imprisonment rate is the highest it's ever been in U.S. history. And yet, our criminal justice system has failed on every count: public safety, fairness and cost-effectiveness. Across the country, the criminal justice reform conversation is heating up. Each week, we feature our some of the most exciting and relevant news in overincarceration discourse that we've spotted from the previous week. Check back weekly for our top picks.

Fighting Overincarceration in the States
The ÀÏ°ÄÃÅ¿ª½±½á¹û continues to work to reduce prison populations and improve public safety at the state level. Here are some highlights from March:

• California: The ÀÏ°ÄÃÅ¿ª½±½á¹û analyzing implementation of last year's , finding that too many counties are increasing jail capacity instead of looking for alternatives to incarceration.
• Florida: The ÀÏ°ÄÃÅ¿ª½±½á¹û supported a to create a parole program for individuals who have served 50 percent of their prison sentence and completed reentry programs, a knock to the state's truth-in-sentencing law.
• Georgia: We supported that will send fewer people to prison for low-level offenses and expand drug and mental health courts, among other things. The bill awaits the governor's signature.
• Hawaii: We to the Senate last month on a bill that would reform pretrial risk assessments and parole supervision.
• Maryland: The ÀÏ°ÄÃÅ¿ª½±½á¹û supported two bills that passed the Maryland legislature: one that grants to people on parole that will reduce prison populations and increase public safety, and one that codifies the right to an attorney at bail review, which cleared both houses and .
• Oklahoma: Ryan Kiesel, the ÀÏ°ÄÃÅ¿ª½±½á¹û of Oklahoma's Executive Director, in the Oklahoma Gazette explaining why a pending reform law falls short of expectations.
• Texas: Last month, the ÀÏ°ÄÃÅ¿ª½±½á¹û held on ending mass incarceration and calling for local rehabilitation instead of prison time for lower crimes.
• West Virginia: in the Charleston Gazette, the ÀÏ°ÄÃÅ¿ª½±½á¹û of West Virginia's Alyson Clements laments the legislature's failure to pass comprehensive criminal justice reform.

Federal Criminal Justice Reform
The ÀÏ°ÄÃÅ¿ª½±½á¹û fights for a more fair and effective criminal justice system at the federal level, too. Here are some highlights from March:

• U.S. Sentencing Commission: The ÀÏ°ÄÃÅ¿ª½±½á¹û supporting fairer treatment for drug crimes and immigration offenses.
• Prosecutorial Misconduct: The ÀÏ°ÄÃÅ¿ª½±½á¹û supports the . The bill clarifies what evidence federal prosecutors must disclose and addresses remedies for Brady violations. Laura Murphy and Jesselyn McCurdy of our Washington Legislative Office submitted a letter to the Senate Judiciary Committee supporting the bill, and the WLO's Michael Macleod-Ball participated in a held by Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) on the bill.

Criminal Justice in the Supreme Court
The Supreme Court handed down several important criminal justice decisions in March, including:

• Lafler v. Cooper and Missouri v. Frye: The Supreme Court that defendants have a right to effective counsel during plea bargaining, and that violations cannot be cured by a later fair trial or plea. The ÀÏ°ÄÃÅ¿ª½±½á¹û joined an submitted by the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers and Connecticut Criminal Defense Lawyers Association.
• Florence v. Burlington: The ÀÏ°ÄÃÅ¿ª½±½á¹û filed an on behalf of former New Jersey attorneys general who opposed blanket strip search policies. Inimai Chettiar writes for the American Constitution Society and its link to overincarceration.

Trayvon Martin and Racial Profiling Reform
The ÀÏ°ÄÃÅ¿ª½±½á¹û has called for an unbiased, professional and thorough outside investigation of Trayvon Martin's death and asked lawmakers to take steps to end racial profiling:

• Joyce Hamilton Henry of the ÀÏ°ÄÃÅ¿ª½±½á¹û of Florida spoke at a gathering at an AME church in Sanford and at a large rally with Trayvon's family.
• ÀÏ°ÄÃÅ¿ª½±½á¹û of Florida Executive Director Howard Simon in the Tampa Bay Times.
• Racial Justice Project Director Dennis Parker testified at a forum hosted by U.S. House Democrats. He called for an unbiased outside investigation, passage of the End Racial Profiling Act, and for the administration to strengthen the U.S. Department of Justice guidance on profiling.
• Call on Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi to guarantee a meaningful investigation into the shooting of Trayvon Martin.

Stop Solitary
The ÀÏ°ÄÃÅ¿ª½±½á¹û's fight against overincarceration is also a fight against its pernicious effects, including massive expansion of the use of solitary confinement:

• National Prison Project Director David Fathi testified in favor of closing Tamms Correctional Center before an Illinois Commission. Listen to a podcast with Brian Nelson, who spent 23 years in solitary confinement.
• David also discusses the use of solitary confinement in California in this front page and in Virginia in this front page .
• The New York Times ran a and the Open Society Foundation ran a post by the ÀÏ°ÄÃÅ¿ª½±½á¹û National Prison Project's Margaret Winter about our litigation to reduce the use of solitary confinement in Mississippi and its link to overincarceration.
• The ÀÏ°ÄÃÅ¿ª½±½á¹û's Amy Fettig condemned the use of solitary confinement in the United States in her testimony to the U.N. Human Rights Council.

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