Citizens for Criminal Justice Reform – New Hampshire

The budget addresses many years of prison neglect

I co-founded Citizens for Criminal Justice Reform in 2011, a nonprofit advocacy group that has grown to 300 dues paying members,

Superior Court Justice James O’Neill erred this month in denying convicted burglar Joshua Shepard a 300-day sentence reduction for earning an associates degree in prison and completing a parenting program and vocational training.

Corrections commissioner Bill Wrenn has already certified 65 prisoners as having completed the work required to earn sentence reductions, some as large as 13 months, under a new law signed by Gov. Hassan last June. It took inmate leaders three challenging years of lobbying and meeting with lawmakers inside the walls to win this modest victory. Citizens for Criminal Justice helped them arrange those face-to-face sales opportunities and helped to recruit sponsors for HB 649, the landmark prison reform bill of 2015.

Special thanks to DOC Commissioner William Wrenn for agreeing to meet with the members and friends of NH Citizens for Criminal Justice Reform.  Approximately 50 people gathered at the Concordia Lutheran Church Tuesday, on January 20th, representing a multiplicity of concerns surrounding their incarcerated loved one. Commissioner Wrenn listened and responded to each and every inquiry and stated that he has an open door policy inviting any family member to call him with issues or concerns.  We appreciate the cooperative spirit of the Commissioner and look forward to working with him in the future.