A Reform Agenda for Safety and Prosperity

A series of bipartisan solutions, informed by the business community, for a fairer justice system that delivers safer communities and a stronger economy for all.

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September 2026

Introduction

Businesses operate in communities negatively impacted by mass incarceration. They compete for workers in a labor market where tens of millions of capable people are locked out by a criminal record, absorb the costs of recidivism in the communities where they hire, invest, and operate, and face the risk and volatility of operating within a justice system that often reaches for its harshest punishments. Ultimately, they are left navigating a system that — despite its enormous public expense — is not delivering the safety or prosperity that businesses, families, or communities depend on.

A growing coalition of businesses has concluded that this is not sustainable and that the private sector has both the self-interest and the responsibility to use its political influence, business practices, and public platforms to drive reform. This policy agenda — the first produced by the Responsible Business Initiative for Justice (RBIJ) — is informed by that collective insight.

The Responsible Business Initiative for Justice is an award-winning, international nonprofit that mobilizes the business community to advance justice through policy reform, business practice, cultural narrative, and sector-wide collaboration. Founded in 2018 on the premise that business is shaped by the justice system and has the power to reshape it in return, RBIJ helps companies leverage their influence to address the system’s persistent discrimination, over-criminalization, and cycles of punishment and poverty, and advance solutions that deliver fairness, support public safety, and promote economic prosperity for all.

Today, RBIJ works with a network of nearly 900 companies across dozens of policy campaigns, corporate partnerships, business convenings, and more, including some of the world’s most recognized brands.

We invite you to review these commonsense, bipartisan recommendations that, if implemented in the United States, will help create greater safety and prosperity for all.

Visit rbij.org/contact to join us.

Table of Contents

I. A Fairer Justice System

‍         1. Invest in community safety

‍ 2. Reform monetary sanctions

‍ 3. Ensure fairness in sentencing

‍ ‍4. Support successful reentry and supervision

II. Economic Opportunity for All

‍ ‍1. Remove barriers for people with records

‍ ‍2. Implement employment incentives and rebalance risk

Endnotes

I. A Fairer Justice System

1. Invest in community safety

As members of their communities, businesses know that public safety is critical for both thriving neighborhoods and economic success. Effective crime deterrence requires swift and certain sanctions. Law enforcement agencies should be equipped to solve crimes and ensure quick resolution while building and maintaining trust in the community.

Federal, state, and local governments should invest in evidence-based strategies to improve public safety such as increasing clearance rates and strengthening community violence intervention programs.

2. Reform monetary sanctions

Monetary sanctions have played a role in the United States (U.S.) criminal justice system since its founding, but the way these sanctions — bail, fines, fees, and forfeitures — are used has changed dramatically over time and across jurisdictions. These sanctions have important effects on who is detained and convicted, their subsequent labor market outcomes, and the priorities of law enforcement agencies.

In the last four decades, the number of people incarcerated pre-trial has grown exponentially and the average length of stay has increased from 14 days to 23, all while the number of people ultimately convicted has remained the same.¹ People detained even for a few days experience job loss, reduced wages and annual earnings, and employment repercussions.²

Fines and fees imposed through the justice system create major financial barriers for people, families, and communities. For people with limited income, even a relatively small financial penalty can become difficult to resolve, especially when missed payments trigger consequences as serious as driver’s license suspension or incarceration. As a result, court debt can follow people long after the original offense, making it harder to stay employed, maintain stable housing, and build long-term financial security. Not only are fines and fees financially destabilizing for justice-impacted people and their families, they are also an ineffective policy tool for governments seeking sustainable means to fund public services.

Federal, state, and local governments should implement evidence-based reforms, including alternatives to cash bail, adjusting individual sanctions to reflect ability to pay, and breaking the link between sanction revenue and the budgets of law enforcement agencies.

3. Ensure fairness in sentencing

End juvenile life without parole

The U.S. is the only known country that sentences children to die in prison by imposing life without parole. Twenty-eight states and the District of Columbia have banned the practice. In the past 12 years, the national juvenile life without parole population has been reduced by over 85%.³ Even so, the continued existence of this practice not only prevents young offenders from becoming rehabilitated, productive members of the community but erodes public trust in the justice system.

State governments should continue to pass reforms to prohibit life without parole for juvenile offenders. The federal government should incentivize states to eliminate juvenile life without parole sentences.

End capital punishment

There are currently over 2,000 people facing execution in the U.S.⁴ And while more than half of all states allow the death penalty to be used as punishment for certain crimes, only 17 have carried out an execution in the last decade.⁵ This is unsurprising given that public support for capital punishment in the U.S. is near an all-time low, and policymakers across the political spectrum have in recent years led calls for abolishing the practice.⁶

The death penalty disproportionately targets the vulnerable, risks executing innocent people, drains public resources, and violates basic human rights. The death penalty does not make communities safer and does not address the root causes of crime, nor does it serve as a deterrent. In fact, statistics show that U.S. states with the death penalty have higher murder rates than those without.⁷ This is consistent with international findings showing that countries that have abolished capital punishment experienced a decline in murder rates over time.⁸

Federal and state governments should end the use of capital punishment through reforms to sentencing laws.

Enact second look legislation

Almost 70,000 people serving life sentences are 55 or older, and those serving lengthy and extreme sentences are disproportionately people of color.⁹ This reality is at odds with the research, which says that recidivism rates decline sharply with age and that harsher sentences do not present a significant deterrent effect on crime.¹⁰ Second look laws allow for judicial review and the potential modification of sentencing after an individual has served a significant amount of time. Importantly, such legislation offers incentives for rehabilitation and good behavior, as well as reducing incarceration costs and the financial strains associated with an aging prison population.

Federal and state governments should pass laws to establish second look mechanisms for resentencing.

Eliminate mandatory minimum sentences

Mandatory minimum sentencing laws require judges to impose automatic, minimum prison terms for certain offenses. These laws are set by the legislature and remove judges’ ability to adjust sentences to the unique circumstances of a case. This limit of judicial discretion can lead to unduly harsh and severe sentences without a rehabilitative goal.¹¹ Eliminating mandatory minimum sentences allows judges to tailor sentencing to the specific case and impose a fair and just sentence while upholding public safety.

Federal and state governments should reform criminal sentencing structures to remove mandatory minimum requirements.

4. Support successful reentry and supervision

When over 95% of the prison population will eventually return home, successful reentry is critical to building a strong economy and safe communities.¹² This requires ensuring connections to housing, employment, healthcare, benefits and other necessary resources for returning citizens.

Reentry planning should begin on the first day of incarceration so that those leaving incarceration are set up for success. Additionally, approximately 3.8 million people were under some form of community supervision at the end of 2023.¹³ Supervision requires individuals to meet a variety of obligations, including employment, with technical violations threatening a return to incarceration.

Federal and state governments should invest in the evidence-based practices that support successful reentry, such as centralized resource hubs for returning citizens with connections to employment opportunities, along with housing, benefits, and healthcare access. Federal and state governments should encourage a coach-based model of supervision¹⁴ that includes individualized assessments of risks and needs and implement reforms to supervision conditions that shorten supervision terms and reduce revocations.

II. Economic Opportunity For All

1. Remove barriers for people with records

An estimated 77 million — or one in three — Americans have some form of a criminal record.¹⁵ For these individuals, this presents more than 40,000 structural barriers to meaningful opportunity across employment, housing, education, and other services.¹⁶ Laws, regulations, and policies should be modified to minimize or eliminate requirements that automatically disqualify people from jobs or professions based on their records.

Policies should encourage and support employers to implement practices that evaluate job candidates based on the necessary skills and experiences and provide opportunities to people with a record.

Expand eligibility for and automation of criminal record sealing

Even a decades-old criminal record can create significant barriers to employment, housing, and educational opportunities. While pathways to seal some of these records exist across the country, the outdated and cumbersome paper petition process has led to fewer than 5% of eligible individuals applying for relief due to a lack of access, knowledge, and funds.¹⁷

When individuals have their records sealed, they are 11% more likely to be employed and their wages increase by an average of 22% within one year.¹⁸ Sealing eligible records ensures not just economic opportunity but public safety, as individuals who have their records sealed have a lower recidivism rate than the general public.¹⁹ As of July 2026, 14 states and the District of Columbia have passed Clean Slate legislation to automate the sealing of eligible criminal records.²⁰

Federal and state governments should expand and automate criminal record sealing processes and pass Clean Slate legislation.

Remove restrictions on occupational licenses and highly regulated industries

Nearly one in every four workers across the labor force are in a profession that requires an occupational license, encompassing careers as widespread as plumbing, dentistry, nursing, cosmetology, and law.²¹ The licensing process can require substantial investments of time and money, but workers who secure one tend to receive higher wages than similar unlicensed workers and enjoy more job security.²² In most states across the country, people with criminal records can be completely barred from obtaining certain occupational licenses, regardless of how long ago they were convicted or the relevancy of the conviction to the licensed industry.

Though some states have rolled back blanket bans, states and licensed professions often still rely on “good moral character” clauses to exclude people with convictions. By removing or reducing these barriers to employment, states can boost incomes, increase sales tax revenue, and reduce the need for people with convictions to be on long-term government support. Federal and state governments should reform their occupational licensing laws to ensure individuals with records are not unnecessarily excluded.

In addition to state licensing restrictions, the federal government has imposed barriers in highly regulated industries and those requiring access to secured spaces. These barriers are not targeted to the specific criminal history risks related to respective roles but rather are broad disqualifications due to a criminal record generally.

The federal government should review barriers to employment in statute and regulation and ensure the limitations set are narrowly tailored to the real risks related to the role in question, rather than upholding broad exclusions.

End debt-based driver’s license suspensions

More than 85% of people in the U.S. drive to work and, as of 2021, approximately 11 million people have lost their driver’s licenses because of unpaid fines and fees.²³ The consequences can be especially severe for people in communities with limited public transportation, where taking away a license can mean taking away the practical means to stay employed and self-sufficient.

Research estimates that a suspended driver’s license costs a person an average of $12,700 in lost earnings each year, with the average suspension lasting approximately 5.8 years.²⁴ These losses affect not only individuals and families, but also employers, local economies, and communities that suffer when people are unable to work and remain financially stable. The result is a policy that weakens local economies while making it harder for people to meet the very financial obligations that triggered the suspension in the first place.

State governments should end debt-based driver’s license suspensions, and the federal government should incentivize states to do so.

Improve access to identity documents

Having a valid form of identification is vital for individuals exiting both state and federal correctional facilities, yet up to 48% of those exiting the federal system do so without the necessary documents such as a social security card, birth certificate, or state identification.²⁵ Without these forms of identification, those leaving incarceration often cannot access a job, housing, education, and other benefits necessary to rejoin society.

Helping returning citizens access identification is an essential step to supporting successful reentry for thousands of Americans, improving the economy, and strengthening communities across the country.

Federal, state, and local governments should develop and expand initiatives to ensure each person leaving a facility has a valid form of identification.

Restore voting rights

Voting restrictions tied to justice system involvement strip people of a fundamental democratic right, exacerbate existing inequalities, and undermine successful reentry and public safety. Voting is one of the most basic forms of civic participation, allowing people to have a voice in the institutions that shape their lives.

In many states, a felony conviction can restrict a person’s right to vote long after incarceration has ended. As a result, people impacted by the justice system can remain shut out of the political process even as they work, pay taxes, raise families, and live under the laws their communities adopt. In 2024, an estimated 4 million Americans were barred from voting because of felony disenfranchisement laws,²⁶ with seven out of ten living in their communities rather than in confinement.²⁷ Furthermore, research has found that people released in states with automatic voting rights restoration were approximately 10% less likely to recidivate than people released in states with permanent disenfranchisement,²⁸ suggesting that voting rights restoration can support public safety.

Voting is a basic democratic right, not a privilege that should be lost after contact with the justice system.

State governments should protect and restore voting rights for people with criminal records, including people who are incarcerated, under supervision, or unable to pay court debt.

Increase access to benefits, financial services, housing, and transportation

Access to basic supports is essential to successful reentry and economic stability. People with records often face barriers to banking, small-business loans, affordable housing, transportation, and public benefits, including food and nutrition assistance. Federal regulations and institutional practices can limit access to accounts and government-sponsored business loans, while justice-impacted entrepreneurs are 55% less likely than similar entrepreneurs to receive capital from financial institutions.²⁹

SNAP and related food and nutrition benefits help people meet basic needs while they search for work, secure housing, and reconnect with healthcare and other supports. Although most federal benefit programs do not impose blanket bans based on criminal history, SNAP access still varies by state for people with certain drug felony convictions, and some policies can deter eligible people under supervision from applying.

Stable housing and reliable transportation are equally important to reentry. Each year, more than 600,000 people return from prison,³⁰ and people with records are far more likely than the general public to experience homelessness or housing insecurity.³¹ Housing agencies and owners of HUD-assisted housing have broad screening discretion, and common tools such as background checks, credit checks, and professional references can exclude people despite evidence of rehabilitation, employment, or community engagement.

Transportation barriers can also prevent people from using workforce programs, complying with supervision requirements, and keeping stable employment, especially in rural and suburban communities with limited transit. Federal, state, and local governments should expand access to affordable housing, reduce unnecessary screening barriers, fund transportation supports, and ensure food and nutrition benefits are integrated into reentry planning so people with records can meet basic needs, work, and reintegrate successfully.

The federal government should review whether existing rules unnecessarily impede access to banking or credit and clarify financial institutions’ responsibilities so perceived liability risk does not exclude people with records.

2. Implement employment incentives and rebalance risk

Provide tax credits

The U.S. loses as much as $87 billion in GDP each year due to the underemployment of people with criminal records.³² The unemployment rate for formerly incarcerated people is 27% — higher than it has ever been for the general population.³³ To overcome these realities, policies and programs should support the education and employment of people while incarcerated and upon reentry. Research shows that hiring individuals with records results in lower turnover rates, increased retention, and loyal and hard-working team members. This lower turnover rate can save companies and their human resources departments valuable time and money – up to $4,000 per employee in recruitment costs.³⁴

Federal and state governments should provide financial incentives in the form of tax credits or other mechanisms to employers to hire applicants with records.

Support availability of expanded professional liability insurance

When employers on a staffing platform were offered crime insurance covering potential damages from their hires, their willingness to hire workers with records increased by 16%.³⁵ When the perception of risk related to hiring someone with a criminal record is covered by an expanded insurance policy, employers are more likely to give people an opportunity.

Federal and state governments should encourage the availability of professional liability insurance to cover potential crime and safety risk.

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