As we move into the next stage of the presidential election, it's becoming increasingly evident that narratives around safety, crime, and justice will play a big role in conversations leading up to election day. That is due to a few factors: former President Trump's campaign continues to draw attention to the former President's own legal battles and his criminal record in the context of a larger unjust system. More recently, it’s also because the new presumptive Democratic nominee is a former prosecutor–and also has a long record advancing meaningful criminal justice reforms.

Reporting on crime, safety, and justice can be challenging in the simplest of times. This election season is particularly complex. As you consider covering the significance of criminal justice issues right now, we urge you to reach out to the team at FWD.us. We can provide you with the most recent research and polling on voters' views on crime, safety, and criminal justice reforms as well as policy expertise on how reforms are playing out in the federal system as well as in states across the country. Our team would be glad to advance your reporting with facts and political analysis on how candidates can win while building the safer and more just country that all Americans want and deserve.

Below are some key points that members of the media should consider when reporting on the importance of criminal justice and public safety in this moment:

• Poll after poll demonstrates that voters want real solutions that advance safety and continued reforms to our criminal justice system. Our own recent poll found that more than 6 in 10 voters and more than two-thirds of all Black voters are more likely to vote for a candidate that supports reform. Mass incarceration has torn families apart, stunted economic growth and recovery, and disrupted the social fabric of too many American communities. Poll after poll show us voters want real solutions and actions to prioritize more safety and more justice.
• More than 70 million Americans have criminal records and almost all of them can vote. The meaning of a felony conviction matters greatly to the people and communities most affected by mass incarceration. And while the Supreme Court just gave presidents broad immunity on official acts, the reality is that most of us aren’t so shielded from criminal consequences. One in three Americans have a criminal record, and nearly 1 in 2 people across the country have had a family member incarcerated and perpetually harmful language and labels like “felon” have helped enable mass incarceration and stall its undoing. Pundits and strategists would be ill-advised to isolate large chunks of the electorate or discount the impact of former President Trump and his supporters’ criminal justice based appeals.
• There are powerful stories to tell on how we have delivered on both safety and reform. Candidates should respond to questions about their agenda by speaking confidently about the many, many safe and effective criminal justice reforms that have proven themselves in red and blue jurisdictions. Over the last decade, 45 states saw reductions in crime rates, while imprisoning fewer people, with crime falling faster in states that reduced imprisonment than in states that increased it.

For more information on the work that we are doing to defend the progress America has made advancing safe and effective criminal justice reforms, please feel free to reach out to our team at press@fwd.us.