In 2015 Roger Williams University held a forum focused on problems associated with mass incarceration. The forum, organized by Judith Savage, RWU School of Law distinguished juris in residence, brought what at the time was a growing national debate on the subject to Rhode Island.
Savage, a retired Superior Court associate justice, and students brought together those affected by state criminal justice laws with those who create and implement them. The March 2015 event was attended by judges, legislators, lawyers, state officials and people who served time in state prison.
It could have ended there, as a successful educational exercise for students who might one day be in positions to help effect real-world changes. But a few months later, Gov. Gina M. Raimondo formed a working group that included Savage to research the impact of probation and parole in Rhode Island.
The group recommended a host of changes designed to better utilize community services before turning to incarceration for parole and probation violations.
In September, Raimondo signed a half-dozen bills into law that, among other things: created a fund for counseling; amendments to parole and probation guidelines, and clearer definitions of felony, misdemeanor and petty misdemeanor crimes.
Savage said it shows how “really big things can happen in small places.”
And it started on a college campus, a welcome sign higher education can still focus student idealism on local issues and, with political leadership, get results.
