The Charles Colson Task Force on Federal Corrections and Members of Congress have released the Task Force’s recommendations for improving the federal corrections system.

The Colson Task Force was established by Congressional mandate in 2014 as a nine‐person, bipartisan, blue ribbon panel charged with developing practical, data-driven recommendations to enhance public safety by creating a more just and efficient federal corrections system. Informed by over a year of fact-finding, rigorous data analysis, and discussions with key experts and stakeholders, the independent Task Force’s recommendations to the US Congress, the President, and the Attorney General provided a blueprint for reforms to the federal corrections system that are sensible, cost-effective strategies to reduce crime and restore lives.

Click here to read the full report.
 

the colson task force members: 

• J.C. Watts, Jr., Chair
  J.C. Watts Companies
  Congressman (R-OK) (1995–2003)
• Alan B. Mollohan, Vice-Chair
  Congressman (D-WV)
  (1983–2011)    
• Craig DeRoche
  Senior Vice President of Policy and Advocacy, Prison Fellowship
  Member, Michigan House of Representatives (R-38th District) (2003–2008); Speaker (2005–2006)
• Laurie O. Robinson
  Clarence J. Robinson Professor of Criminology, Law and Society, George Mason University
  Assistant Attorney General, Office of Justice Programs, US Department of Justice (1993–2000; 2009–2012)
• David C. Iglesias
  Director, Wheaton Center for Faith, Politics, and Economics, Wheaton College
  US Attorney for the District of New Mexico (2001–2007)
• Cynthia W. Roseberry
  Project Manager, Clemency Project 2014
  Executive Director, Federal Defenders of the Middle District of Georgia (2009–2014)
• Jay Neal
  Criminal Justice Liaison, Georgia Criminal Justice Coordinating Council
  Representative, Georgia General Assembly (R-Lafayette) (2005–2013)
• Judge Ricardo M. Urbina 
  Arbitrator and Mediator, JAMS
  Judge, US District Court for the District of Columbia (1994–2012)
• John E. Wetzel 
  Secretary, Pennsylvania Department of Corrections (2010–present) 
  Warden, Franklin County (PA) Jail (2002–2010)  
   

For full member biographies or more information on the 
Colson Task Force, please visit: www.colsontaskforce.org.
 

The Urban Institute and its partner, the Center for Effective Public Policy, provide research, analysis, strategic guidance, and logistical support to the Charles Colson Task Force through a cooperative agreement with the Bureau of Justice Assistance, Office of Justice Programs, and US Department of Justice. Inquiries regarding this event should be directed to [email protected].