Leaders from the business and legal communities have co-signed an open letter to Justice Secretary Robert Buckland MP to release medically vulnerable and nonviolent offenders at risk of COVID-19 in prisons and jails. 

Yesterday, Governor Jared Polis signature made Colorado the 22nd state to abolish the death penalty. Many will have missed it. Attention in the U.S. and beyond remain understandably fixed on the global pandemic, and the 15,000 lives it has already taken across 163 countries. However, during a period when death and disruption dominate headlines, it is more important than ever that we recognize efforts to save lives everywhere.

Be it through advocacy, justice focused-initiatives, or hiring, corporations can be instruments of change. And change cannot come fast enough.

In the United States, Black men are nearly six times as likely to be incarcerated as White men. Black people use drugs at exactly the same rate as White people, yet they are 10 times more likely to be arrested for drug offenses. People of color account for 37 percent of the US population, yet they make up 67 percent of the total US prison population. Punishments are harsher, too — federally imposed sentences for Black men are 19 percent longer than for White men for similar crimes.

The Conservative landslide has caused grave concern in the British criminal justice community. Over the past 18 months Home Secretary Priti Patel has doubled down on the party’s “tough on crime” reputation, promising to make criminals “feel terror”. This accompanies proposals for tougher sentencing, greater police stop-and-search powers, and an end to early release.