{"id":30433,"date":"2022-04-05T17:10:35","date_gmt":"2022-04-05T17:10:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cjstudents.com\/?p=30433"},"modified":"2022-04-05T17:10:35","modified_gmt":"2022-04-05T17:10:35","slug":"the-invisible-hand-of-steve-twist-propublica","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cjstudents.com\/index.php\/2022\/04\/05\/the-invisible-hand-of-steve-twist-propublica\/","title":{"rendered":"The Invisible Hand of Steve Twist \u2014 ProPublica"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> [ad_1]<\/p>\n<div data-pp-location=\"article body\">\n<div class=\"article-body__top-notes\" data-pp-location=\"top-note\">\n<div class=\"article-body__note article-body__note--newsletter\" id=\"newsletter-txt-note\">\n<p>ProPublica is a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power. <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/newsletters\/dispatches?source=www.propublica.org&amp;placement=top-note&amp;region=local\" rel=\"noopener\">Sign up for Dispatches<\/a>, a newsletter that spotlights wrongdoing around the country, to receive our stories in your inbox every week.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><!-- end .article-body__top-notes --><\/p>\n<p data-pp-blocktype=\"copy\" data-pp-id=\"1.0\">When Josh Tate was sentenced in 2017 to 10 years in prison for getting caught with drugs multiple times, his wife, Claire Tate, tried not to dwell on the moments he would miss with their two young kids. She didn\u2019t see the purpose in sending Josh \u2014 who had struggled with a meth addiction for years but never been convicted of a violent crime \u2014 away for so long.<\/p>\n<p data-pp-blocktype=\"copy\" data-pp-id=\"2.0\">\u201cYou can\u2019t punish a drug addiction out of somebody,\u201d Claire Tate said recently.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"promo-newsletter-signup-2&#10;    user-level--0__show user-level--1__show size04 right out02 wide-sm wrap&#10;            \">\n<\/aside>\n<aside class=\"promo-newsletter-see-all-2 &#10;    user-level--2__show size04 right out02 wide-sm wrap&#10;            \">\n<\/aside>\n<aside class=\"promo-donate-2&#10;    user-level--3__show size04 right out02 wide-sm wrap&#10;        \">\n<\/aside>\n<p data-pp-blocktype=\"copy\" data-pp-id=\"4.0\">Last year, state legislation supported by prominent conservative groups seemed to offer Josh Tate a chance to serve a larger portion of his sentence at home after completing education and self-help programs.<\/p>\n<p data-pp-blocktype=\"copy\" data-pp-id=\"5.0\">Claire and Josh began making plans, big and small, for once he was out of prison: going to a grocery store, visiting a hot dog stand in a small southern Arizona town, taking the kids to the beach.<\/p>\n<p data-pp-blocktype=\"copy\" data-pp-id=\"6.0\">One man had the power to delay their early reunion: Steve Twist. Twist has never held elected office. But over four decades the Arizona victims\u2019 rights advocate, adjunct law professor and former assistant state attorney general has had an enduring impact on policies that created one of the nation\u2019s most punitive state criminal justice systems.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"bb-ad full\">\n    <\/aside>\n<p data-pp-blocktype=\"copy\" data-pp-id=\"8.0\">As he had done several times before, Twist worked to torpedo the early release bill, meeting with lawmakers and sharing a list of concerns, including fears that people convicted of certain violent crimes would qualify for release.<\/p>\n<p data-pp-blocktype=\"copy\" data-pp-id=\"9.0\">Across the country, states both liberal and conservative have taken steps to reduce their prison populations. Similar efforts in Arizona have been incremental. The state established mandatory minimums for people who commit multiple and violent crimes; combined with a law that requires almost every prisoner to serve 85% of their sentence in prison \u2014 with the exception of people, like Josh, convicted of drug possession, who still serve 70% \u2014 this makes Arizona\u2019s criminal justice system one of the harshest in the nation. Locking up so many for so long comes at a high price: Only four states spend a bigger share <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/higherlogicdownload.s3.amazonaws.com\/NASBO\/9d2d2db1-c943-4f1b-b750-0fca152d64c2\/UploadedImages\/SER%20Archive\/2021_State_Expenditure_Report_S.pdf\" rel=\"noopener\">of their budgets<\/a> on corrections.<\/p>\n<p data-pp-blocktype=\"copy\" data-pp-id=\"10.0\">Organizations and lawmakers attempting to change the state\u2019s sentencing laws have blamed their failure on the tight grip Twist and his allies hold on criminal justice policy in Arizona.<\/p>\n<p data-pp-blocktype=\"copy\" data-pp-id=\"11.0\">In the 1970s, first as a lobbyist for Arizona police chiefs, then as a lawyer for the Arizona Legislature, Twist helped rewrite the state\u2019s criminal code to make sentencing more punitive. Later, as an assistant state attorney general in the 1980s, he continued to push for harsher laws that kept people in prison even longer. In the 1990s, working for the National Rifle Association, he helped enact similar policies in other states, including requirements that people serve at least 85% of their sentenced time, imposing life sentences after a third conviction for a violent felony, enforcing the death penalty and allowing young people to be charged as adults.<\/p>\n<p data-pp-blocktype=\"copy\" data-pp-id=\"12.0\">In more recent years, those who have worked with Twist and observed him closely said he remains a gatekeeper for criminal justice policies in Arizona. This continuing influence comes not only from his past work but also his relationships with governors, lawmakers, state supreme court justices, county prosecutors and other victims\u2019 rights advocates. When proposals threaten laws he helped enact, he draws on this network to pressure lawmakers to oppose reform legislation.<\/p>\n<p data-pp-blocktype=\"copy\" data-pp-id=\"13.0\">\u201cSo many people defer to him,\u201d said Pat Nolan, founder of a criminal justice reform group at the American Conservative Union Foundation. \u201cHis influence is felt behind the scenes, it\u2019s not out in the open.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure data-pp-id=\"14\" data-pp-blocktype=\"image-sets\" class=\"bb-image-set size13 center  wide-sm wrap&#10;                \">\n<div class=\"multi\">\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"lazyload \" alt=\"\" width=\"2252\" height=\"3000\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml;charset=utf-8,%3Csvg%20xmlns%3D%27http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg%27%20width%3D%27400%27%20height%3D%27533%27%20style%3D%27background%3Argba%28127%2C127%2C127%2C0.07%29%27%2F%3E\" data-sizes=\"auto\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/img.assets-d.propublica.org\/v5\/images\/20220405-claire-tate-portrait-forward.jpg?crop=focalpoint&amp;fit=crop&amp;fp-x=0.5&amp;fp-y=0.5&amp;h=533&amp;q=70&amp;w=400&amp;s=cd32ed929fca41f6cab167756e7933dd 400w, https:\/\/img.assets-d.propublica.org\/v5\/images\/20220405-claire-tate-portrait-forward.jpg?crop=focalpoint&amp;fit=crop&amp;fp-x=0.5&amp;fp-y=0.5&amp;h=1066&amp;q=80&amp;w=800&amp;s=4c8323f9be49f111568c331c91f900f1 800w, https:\/\/img.assets-d.propublica.org\/v5\/images\/20220405-claire-tate-portrait-forward.jpg?crop=focalpoint&amp;fit=crop&amp;fp-x=0.5&amp;fp-y=0.5&amp;h=1599&amp;q=90&amp;w=1200&amp;s=16b73fcdf391c967abe83e106e60e4da 1200w, https:\/\/img.assets-d.propublica.org\/v5\/images\/20220405-claire-tate-portrait-forward.jpg?crop=focalpoint&amp;fit=crop&amp;fp-x=0.5&amp;fp-y=0.5&amp;h=2131&amp;q=80&amp;w=1600&amp;s=c28a3c253f6a7614cb3a67ccaf1c052b 1600w, https:\/\/img.assets-d.propublica.org\/v5\/images\/20220405-claire-tate-portrait-forward.jpg?crop=focalpoint&amp;fit=crop&amp;fp-x=0.5&amp;fp-y=0.5&amp;h=2664&amp;q=80&amp;w=2000&amp;s=a4d5353ae8d7581a921d698e07f55465 2000w\"\/><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"lazyload \" alt=\"\" width=\"2252\" height=\"3000\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml;charset=utf-8,%3Csvg%20xmlns%3D%27http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg%27%20width%3D%27400%27%20height%3D%27533%27%20style%3D%27background%3Argba%28127%2C127%2C127%2C0.07%29%27%2F%3E\" data-sizes=\"auto\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/img.assets-d.propublica.org\/v5\/images\/20220405-claire-tate-photograph.jpg?crop=focalpoint&amp;fit=crop&amp;fp-x=0.5&amp;fp-y=0.5&amp;h=533&amp;q=70&amp;w=400&amp;s=a32d54c42553c9a0e800e78d19cdfefb 400w, https:\/\/img.assets-d.propublica.org\/v5\/images\/20220405-claire-tate-photograph.jpg?crop=focalpoint&amp;fit=crop&amp;fp-x=0.5&amp;fp-y=0.5&amp;h=1066&amp;q=80&amp;w=800&amp;s=8d4b7e6072b528f6b13a5b02d095627d 800w, https:\/\/img.assets-d.propublica.org\/v5\/images\/20220405-claire-tate-photograph.jpg?crop=focalpoint&amp;fit=crop&amp;fp-x=0.5&amp;fp-y=0.5&amp;h=1599&amp;q=90&amp;w=1200&amp;s=a5c38954d05752f1929a81ec5b9a08e4 1200w, https:\/\/img.assets-d.propublica.org\/v5\/images\/20220405-claire-tate-photograph.jpg?crop=focalpoint&amp;fit=crop&amp;fp-x=0.5&amp;fp-y=0.5&amp;h=2131&amp;q=80&amp;w=1600&amp;s=d18dfb1c96c37d274ddd43c63c1cb6fa 1600w, https:\/\/img.assets-d.propublica.org\/v5\/images\/20220405-claire-tate-photograph.jpg?crop=focalpoint&amp;fit=crop&amp;fp-x=0.5&amp;fp-y=0.5&amp;h=2664&amp;q=80&amp;w=2000&amp;s=caedba7a07535cf7be78987922241d36 2000w\"\/><\/div><figcaption class=\"attribution\"><span class=\"attribution__caption\">Claire Tate in Sierra Vista, Arizona, with her kids and a family picture showing her husband, Josh Tate, who is incarcerated<\/span><\/p>\n<p>        <span class=\"attribution__credit\"><br \/>\n        <span class=\"a11y\">Credit: <\/span><br \/>\n        Cassidy Araiza for ProPublica<br \/>\n    <\/span><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p data-pp-blocktype=\"copy\" data-pp-id=\"15.0\">Those who have worked with Twist and observed him say it\u2019s not clear what has driven his passion for criminal justice issues. He has said in previous interviews that his work as a prosecutor helped him understand \u201cthe plight of crime victims in our system.\u201d And when Twist opposes changes to sentencing laws, he usually references crime victims. This work has made him a nationally recognized figure in the victims\u2019 rights movement, including being honored by the Department of Justice in 2020 with a <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ojp.gov\/sites\/g\/files\/xyckuh241\/files\/media\/document\/ojp-news-10052020d.pdf\" rel=\"noopener\">Victims\u2019 Rights Legend Award<\/a>. And it\u2019s given him stature in Arizona\u2019s political establishment.<\/p>\n<p data-pp-blocktype=\"copy\" data-pp-id=\"16.0\">Paul Cassell, a University of Utah law professor who wrote a textbook with Twist about crime victim law, said he doesn\u2019t know of a personal experience that shaped Twist\u2019s views. \u201cI think Steve just thinks it\u2019s the right thing to do,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p data-pp-blocktype=\"copy\" data-pp-id=\"17.0\">Heather Grossman, a domestic violence survivor who was shot in the neck in 1997, leaving her paralyzed from the neck down, said that Twist has been a \u201clifesaver\u201d for her and her family. Twist has connected Grossman to resources, mentored her son, and helped when her insurer refused to cover her 24-hour nursing care.<\/p>\n<p data-pp-blocktype=\"copy\" data-pp-id=\"18.0\">\u201cHe\u2019s such a good person, and I can only think he works for the best kind of justice,\u201d she said. \u201cHe\u2019s one of the best people I know.\u201d<\/p>\n<p data-pp-blocktype=\"copy\" data-pp-id=\"18.1\">Twist did not respond to ProPublica\u2019s repeated requests to be interviewed or to comment for this story.<\/p>\n<p data-pp-blocktype=\"copy\" data-pp-id=\"18.2\">Twist and his allies have claimed that Arizona\u2019s sentencing laws reduced crime, even as evidence mounts that such policies are not only inhumane and costly, but also ineffective.<\/p>\n<p data-pp-blocktype=\"copy\" data-pp-id=\"19.0\">Grant Woods, who died last year, defeated Twist in the 1990 Republican primary for Arizona attorney general. In a 2021 interview with ProPublica, Woods described the candidate he faced as someone who he believed had \u201cdecided very early in his life that the best way to provide public safety is to figure out who is committing crimes and to lock them up as long as you can. And I don\u2019t think he\u2019s really changed much since then.\u201d<\/p>\n<p data-pp-blocktype=\"copy\" data-pp-id=\"20.0\">After the Republican-controlled Arizona House of Representatives passed its early release bill in February 2021 with overwhelming support, Claire Tate began unpacking her husband\u2019s clothes from a storage unit and telling friends at church that he would be home soon.<\/p>\n<p data-pp-blocktype=\"copy\" data-pp-id=\"21.0\">Later in the legislative session, rumors began to spread among lawmakers that a revised version of the bill would lead to the release of child sex traffickers, which lobbyists for the bill said was untrue. Efforts to debunk the rumors failed, and the Legislature adjourned without taking final action. Josh remains locked up.<\/p>\n<p data-pp-blocktype=\"copy\" data-pp-id=\"22.0\">For some, including the bill\u2019s Republican lead sponsor, state Rep. Walt Blackman, its failure was the latest example of Twist defeating any proposal that would dismantle laws he helped shape.<\/p>\n<p data-pp-blocktype=\"copy\" data-pp-id=\"22.1\">\u201cAll lines go to him,\u201d Blackman said.<\/p>\n<h3>\u201cLeading a Charge to Lock Offenders Up and Throw Away the Keys\u201d<\/h3>\n<p data-pp-blocktype=\"copy\" data-pp-id=\"23.0\">Twist graduated from law school in 1974, as much of the nation was beginning to panic over rising crime. That year, the rate of serious crime \u2014 murder, rape, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary, larceny and auto theft \u2014 jumped 17%, the largest increase in the 44 years that the Federal Bureau of Investigation had collected statistics.<\/p>\n<p data-pp-blocktype=\"copy\" data-pp-id=\"24.0\">In a <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.presidency.ucsb.edu\/documents\/special-message-the-congress-crime\" rel=\"noopener\">special address to Congress<\/a> in June 1975, President Gerald Ford urged lawmakers to enact measures to control crime.<\/p>\n<p data-pp-blocktype=\"copy\" data-pp-id=\"25.0\">That year, a commission was at work revising Arizona\u2019s criminal code, which dated to its territorial days. A Tucson Citizen editorial called the old laws \u201coutdated, ambiguous and ineffective.\u201d<\/p>\n<p data-pp-blocktype=\"copy\" data-pp-id=\"26.0\">Twist got a job as a lobbyist for the Arizona League of Cities and Towns who represented the Arizona Police Chiefs Association. He left that job to work for the Arizona House of Representatives, where, as he described it, he became a \u201cprincipal drafter\u201d of the new criminal code as it was debated by lawmakers.<\/p>\n<p data-pp-blocktype=\"copy\" data-pp-id=\"27.0\">The code was rewritten in modern language; some anachronisms, such as rules regarding dueling, were deleted. But more importantly, the code\u2019s <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.azleg.gov\/viewdocument\/?docName=https:\/\/www.azleg.gov\/ars\/13\/00101.htm\" rel=\"noopener\">purpose<\/a> was reframed: Sentencing should have a \u201cdeterrent influence,\u201d it stated. The new laws also limited judges\u2019 discretion by imposing mandatory prison time for repeated felonies and violent crimes.<\/p>\n<p data-pp-blocktype=\"copy\" data-pp-id=\"28.0\">\u201cWithout Steve this couldn\u2019t be done,\u201d the chair of the House Judiciary Committee told a reporter at the time.<\/p>\n<p data-pp-blocktype=\"copy\" data-pp-id=\"29.0\">In 1978, months before the code was to go into effect, a South Carolina consulting firm hired by the Department of Corrections to develop a plan to ease prison overcrowding released a report critical of the new laws. The report\u2019s author, Stephen Carter, predicted they would contribute to a prison population increase from about 3,000 to at least 10,000 over a decade.<\/p>\n<figure data-pp-id=\"30\" data-pp-blocktype=\"image\" class=\"bb-image size09 center  wide-sm wrap &#10;                \"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"lazyload \" alt=\"\" width=\"2623\" height=\"1694\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml;charset=utf-8,%3Csvg%20xmlns%3D%27http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg%27%20width%3D%27400%27%20height%3D%27258%27%20style%3D%27background%3Argba%28127%2C127%2C127%2C0.07%29%27%2F%3E\" data-sizes=\"auto\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/img.assets-d.propublica.org\/v5\/images\/202203xx-alhambra-prison-overcrowding.jpg?crop=focalpoint&amp;fit=crop&amp;fp-x=0.5&amp;fp-y=0.5&amp;h=258&amp;q=70&amp;w=400&amp;s=b53200faf1d53c1e64ed6bdfd57f48b9 400w, https:\/\/img.assets-d.propublica.org\/v5\/images\/202203xx-alhambra-prison-overcrowding.jpg?crop=focalpoint&amp;fit=crop&amp;fp-x=0.5&amp;fp-y=0.5&amp;h=517&amp;q=80&amp;w=800&amp;s=e149ed19c3ba14b9f9a70872fa4d727a 800w, https:\/\/img.assets-d.propublica.org\/v5\/images\/202203xx-alhambra-prison-overcrowding.jpg?crop=focalpoint&amp;fit=crop&amp;fp-x=0.5&amp;fp-y=0.5&amp;h=775&amp;q=90&amp;w=1200&amp;s=63f52c6536fab20ebe32be051f3c5d5f 1200w, https:\/\/img.assets-d.propublica.org\/v5\/images\/202203xx-alhambra-prison-overcrowding.jpg?crop=focalpoint&amp;fit=crop&amp;fp-x=0.5&amp;fp-y=0.5&amp;h=1033&amp;q=80&amp;w=1600&amp;s=69bed7f40480cba739f693d2843e8af8 1600w, https:\/\/img.assets-d.propublica.org\/v5\/images\/202203xx-alhambra-prison-overcrowding.jpg?crop=focalpoint&amp;fit=crop&amp;fp-x=0.5&amp;fp-y=0.5&amp;h=1292&amp;q=80&amp;w=2000&amp;s=e0838587a1dc5eaf0efc801977f71e61 2000w\"\/><figcaption class=\"attribution\"><span class=\"attribution__caption\">The auditorium at the Alhambra prison complex in Phoenix, Arizona, was converted to hold 43 beds to address overcrowding. The photo ran in a 1988 report about the state\u2019s prison system.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>        <span class=\"attribution__credit\"><br \/>\n        <span class=\"a11y\">Credit: <\/span><br \/>\n        Sean Brady\/The Arizona Republic<br \/>\n    <\/span><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p data-pp-blocktype=\"copy\" data-pp-id=\"31.0\">By January 1988, the prison population had exceeded those projections, with more than 11,000 people incarcerated across the state. Arizona had run out of space in its prisons and was housing prisoners in tents, warehouses and trailers.<\/p>\n<p data-pp-blocktype=\"copy\" data-pp-id=\"32.0\">Twist changed jobs again in 1989, becoming chief assistant to then-Attorney General Bob Corbin, a job in which he continued to be a fixture at the Legislature.<\/p>\n<p data-pp-blocktype=\"copy\" data-pp-id=\"33.0\">Chris Herstam, who served as a state representative for eight years starting in 1983, recalled seeing Twist and others from the attorney general\u2019s office huddled for hours in the House Judiciary Committee chair\u2019s office. \u201cThey were leading a charge to lock offenders up and throw away the keys,\u201d Herstam said. \u201cThey were very much into victims\u2019 rights in an attempt to reduce crime dramatically and put the bad guys in jail, period. That was their mission.\u201d<\/p>\n<p data-pp-blocktype=\"copy\" data-pp-id=\"34.0\">As Twist began working with victims of crime, his interest in their issues deepened. He wrote <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.azleg.gov\/const\/2\/2_1.htm\" rel=\"noopener\">Arizona\u2019s Victims\u2019 Bill of Rights<\/a>, a constitutional amendment passed by voters in 1990 that guarantees crime victims certain rights, including the right to be informed of criminal proceedings and to be present in the courtroom.<\/p>\n<p data-pp-blocktype=\"copy\" data-pp-id=\"35.0\">However, resistance to the massive increase in incarceration was building. In 1992, a criminal justice research group released a study that concluded the rewritten criminal code\u2019s broad descriptions of crimes and narrow sentencing provisions had gone too far in shifting power from judges to prosecutors. The report\u2019s authors recommended eliminating mandatory minimums and returning to sentencing ranges that would allow judges to decide an appropriate punishment.<\/p>\n<p data-pp-blocktype=\"copy\" data-pp-id=\"36.0\">\u201cIt shows what was a sincere effort at achieving harmony in sentencing,\u201d wrote the report\u2019s author, Kay Knapp, was \u201cinstead producing anarchy.\u201d Knapp was a former U.S. Sentencing Commission director.<\/p>\n<p data-pp-blocktype=\"copy\" data-pp-id=\"37.0\">The Arizona Prosecuting Attorneys\u2019 Advisory Council attempted to refute Knapp\u2019s findings with a report of their own. Authored by Michael Block, a professor of economics and law at the University of Arizona, the report argued that getting tough works and that Knapp\u2019s report was unbalanced. Block, who would later co-found the BASIS charter schools chain, told a joint legislative committee that punishment in Arizona was in line with the rest of the nation.<\/p>\n<p data-pp-blocktype=\"copy\" data-pp-id=\"38.0\">That year, the committee recommended rehabilitation be added as a purpose of the criminal code. The panel also proposed restoring judges\u2019 ability to adjust sentences.<\/p>\n<p data-pp-blocktype=\"copy\" data-pp-id=\"39.0\">Those recommendations were ignored. Instead, Gov. Fife Symington proposed ending parole in Arizona and replacing it with \u201ctruth in sentencing,\u201d which would require people in prison to serve a minimum of 85% of their sentences. Lawmakers passed the measure in 1993.<\/p>\n<p data-pp-blocktype=\"copy\" data-pp-id=\"40.0\">At the time, a new NRA program called CrimeStrike said it had helped Arizona officials enact the harsher penalties. <\/p>\n<p data-pp-blocktype=\"copy\" data-pp-id=\"40.1\">CrimeStrike\u2019s director: Steve Twist.<\/p>\n<figure data-pp-id=\"41\" data-pp-blocktype=\"embed\" class=\"bb-embed size08 center  wide-sm wrap&#10;                     bb--chunky-border-top                 \">\n<div class=\"lead-in\">\n<p class=\"lead-in__title\" id=\"arizonas-incarceration-rate-far-outpaces-national-average\">Arizona\u2019s Incarceration Rate Far Outpaces National Average<\/p>\n<div class=\"lead-in__intro\">\n<p>During the decades Steve Twist helped shape the state\u2019s criminal justice policy, Arizona saw a rising prison population.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>                        <!-- Generated by ai2html v0.106.0 - 2022-03-29 11:52 --><br \/>\n<!-- ai file: 20220325-arizona-prison.ai --><\/p>\n<div id=\"g-20220325-arizona-prison-box\" class=\"ai2html\">\n<p>\t<!-- Artboard: desktop --><\/p>\n<div id=\"g-20220325-arizona-prison-desktop\" class=\"g-artboard\" style=\"min-width: 500px;\" data-aspect-ratio=\"1.405\" data-min-width=\"500\">\n<p>\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" id=\"g-20220325-arizona-prison-desktop-img\" class=\"g-aiImg\" alt=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/assets-d.propublica.org\/v5\/images\/20220325-arizona-prison-desktop.png?v2\"\/><\/p>\n<div id=\"g-ai0-1\" class=\"g-ai2html-settings g-aiAbs g-aiPointText\" style=\"top:8.0818%;margin-top:-8.5px;left:0.4311%;width:210px;\">\n<p class=\"g-pstyle0\">600 prisoners per 100k people<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>\t<!-- Artboard: mobile --><\/p>\n<div id=\"g-20220325-arizona-prison-mobile\" class=\"g-artboard\" style=\"max-width: 499px;max-height: 589px\" data-aspect-ratio=\"0.848\" data-min-width=\"0\" data-max-width=\"499\">\n<p>\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" id=\"g-20220325-arizona-prison-mobile-img\" class=\"g-aiImg\" alt=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/assets-d.propublica.org\/v5\/images\/20220325-arizona-prison-mobile.png?v2\"\/><\/p>\n<div id=\"g-ai1-1\" class=\"g-ai2html-settings g-aiAbs g-aiPointText\" style=\"top:6.1775%;margin-top:-8.5px;left:2.8059%;width:210px;\">\n<p class=\"g-pstyle0\">600 prisoners per 100k people<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><!-- Custom JS --><\/p>\n<p><!-- End ai2html - 2022-03-29 11:52 --><figcaption class=\"attribution\"><span class=\"attribution__credit\"><br \/>\n        <span class=\"a11y\">Credit: <\/span><br \/>\n        Source: Bureau of Justice Statistics, U.S. Census Bureau<br \/>\n    <\/span><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h3>A National Platform<\/h3>\n<p data-pp-blocktype=\"copy\" data-pp-id=\"44.0\">In the 1990s, CrimeStrike bought <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/books.google.com\/books?id=Ga59btexRh0C&amp;pg=PA19&amp;dq=crimestrike+and+nra&amp;hl=en&amp;sa=X&amp;ved=2ahUKEwiaotrKz6r2AhVkJ0QIHZD1Az0QuwV6BAgIEAY#v=onepage&amp;q=crimestrike%20and%20nra&amp;f=false\" rel=\"noopener\">full-page ads<\/a> in magazines and newspapers touting its mission to \u201cput real justice back in our criminal justice system.\u201d Not only was crime a threat to personal safety, the pitch went, it was also \u201cthe greatest threat to your Second Amendment right to own a gun. It is their violent misuse of firearms that makes <em>your<\/em> firearms the target for gun-ban groups, anti-gun politicians and the media.\u201d<\/p>\n<p data-pp-blocktype=\"copy\" data-pp-id=\"45.0\">At the <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.c-span.org\/video\/?54505-1\/gun-control\" rel=\"noopener\">1994 Conservative Political Action Conference<\/a>, Gary Kreep, then the executive director of the U.S. Justice Foundation, a conservative legal issues organization, introduced Twist as CrimeStrike\u2019s director and the person who had recently helped craft \u201cprecedent-setting\u201d legislation to abolish parole in Arizona.<\/p>\n<p data-pp-blocktype=\"copy\" data-pp-id=\"46.0\">When Twist took the stage, he issued a rallying cry to the CPAC crowd: \u201cWe simply cannot give speeches about this any longer. We have to become an army, a coalition across America to tell politicians that the time for reform and change and getting tough is now, because getting tough works.\u201d<\/p>\n<p data-pp-blocktype=\"copy\" data-pp-id=\"47.0\">Twist had a national platform to spread the ideas he had developed in Arizona.<\/p>\n<p data-pp-blocktype=\"copy\" data-pp-id=\"48.0\">CrimeStrike claimed it helped pass \u201ctruth-in-sentencing\u201d laws in Mississippi and Virginia, and worked on \u201cthree strikes and you\u2019re out\u201d laws in California, Delaware, Georgia, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Vermont and Washington. In Texas in 1993 and Mississippi in 1994, the group pushed for billion-dollar bonds to build new prisons, according to media reports. CrimeStrike volunteers \u201cpublicize the records of judges and politicians whom they see as being soft on criminals,\u201d the Houston Chronicle reported. The group also advocated for constitutional amendments for crime victims like the one passed in Arizona.<\/p>\n<p data-pp-blocktype=\"copy\" data-pp-id=\"49.0\">Other opportunities for Twist to influence criminal justice policy across the country followed.<\/p>\n<p data-pp-blocktype=\"copy\" data-pp-id=\"50.0\">The 1994 Crime Bill passed by Congress and signed into law by Bill Clinton provided grants for building and expanding prisons to states that required prisoners convicted of violent crimes to serve 85% of their sentence. That year, Twist teamed up with Block, the University of Arizona professor, to co-author the \u201c<a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ojp.gov\/pdffiles1\/Photocopy\/152752NCJRS.pdf\" rel=\"noopener\">Report Card on Crime and Punishment<\/a>,\u201d which they claimed was \u201cthe first comprehensive historical review ever accomplished of crime and punishment in the states.\u201d The report was done for the American Legislative Exchange Council, a corporate-funded group that brings together conservative state lawmakers and representatives of corporations to develop and disseminate copycat legislation.<\/p>\n<p data-pp-blocktype=\"copy\" data-pp-id=\"51.0\">(ALEC has since <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/alec.org\/issue\/criminal-justice-reform\/\" rel=\"noopener\">changed course on criminal justice policy<\/a>, including publicly supporting the proposed 2021 Arizona sentencing reforms that Twist opposed.)<\/p>\n<p data-pp-blocktype=\"copy\" data-pp-id=\"52.0\">The 1994 report card cited federal crime and imprisonment data from 1960 to 1992 to argue that six of the states with the largest increases in incarceration rates for violent crime were also among the states with the biggest declines in violent crime. \u201cThe message here is unequivocal. Leniency is associated with higher crime rates; getting tough brings crime rates down,\u201d the report stated.<\/p>\n<p data-pp-blocktype=\"copy\" data-pp-id=\"53.0\">Experts dismissed Twist and Block\u2019s methods and conclusions. Alvin J. Bronstein, the founder and then-director of the American Civil Liberties Union\u2019s National Prison Project, called it \u201cvoodoo criminology.\u201d<\/p>\n<p data-pp-blocktype=\"copy\" data-pp-id=\"54.0\">Marc Mauer, former executive director of The Sentencing Project, a D.C.-based group opposed to mass incarceration, said the report \u2014 which received media coverage nationwide \u2014 influenced conservative lawmakers by \u201cdoing their homework for them,\u201d providing a \u201cresearch-based\u201d report to support model legislation they could introduce in their home states.<\/p>\n<p data-pp-blocktype=\"copy\" data-pp-id=\"55.0\">Mauer said there was no direct link between the rising imprisonment and declining crime rates Twist cited as proof that his approach was working. Mauer said that it was misleading to compare the crime rise from 1960 to 1980 with the decline from 1980 to 1992. Mauer said that crime reporting in 1960 was \u201cvery sketchy\u201d in many places, and many crimes weren\u2019t reported to police. By 1980, reporting had improved.<\/p>\n<p data-pp-blocktype=\"copy\" data-pp-id=\"56.0\">\u201cAny serious scholar would have to say there was an increase, but we can\u2019t be sure of the scale of the increase, because we don\u2019t know how many crimes were not reported back then,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n<p data-pp-blocktype=\"copy\" data-pp-id=\"56.1\">And studies that followed would find no strong connection between longer sentences and crime rates.<\/p>\n<p data-pp-blocktype=\"copy\" data-pp-id=\"57.0\">A 2004 report by the American Bar Association criticized mandatory minimum sentencing, noting the sharp increase in the time people were serving in prison: Between 1980 and 1992 those imprisoned served an average of 18 months, while from 1992 to 2000 it jumped to an average of five years. The report noted the harm done to minority communities by widespread incarceration and urged lawmakers to find alternatives.<\/p>\n<p data-pp-blocktype=\"copy\" data-pp-id=\"58.0\">In 2012, a <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.pewtrusts.org\/-\/media\/assets\/2012\/06\/06\/time_served_report.pdf\" rel=\"noopener\">Pew Center on the States<\/a> study found that for a substantial number of people in prison, there is \u201clittle or no evidence\u201d that longer sentences prevent crime. And in 2014 <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/nap.nationalacademies.org\/read\/18613\/chapter\/1\" rel=\"noopener\">the National Research Council concluded<\/a> that the increase in incarceration might have reduced crime, but the magnitude was uncertain. The research council said that policymakers should reconsider their sentencing policies because of the <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/nap.nationalacademies.org\/resource\/18613\/dbasse_090068.pdf\" rel=\"noopener\">\u201csocial, financial and human costs<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n<p data-pp-blocktype=\"copy\" data-pp-id=\"59.0\">Virginia Mireles, who has been in and out of Arizona prisons five times since 1996, said the threat of longer sentences didn\u2019t deter her from stealing to feed her drug addiction.<\/p>\n<figure data-pp-id=\"60\" data-pp-blocktype=\"image-sets\" class=\"bb-image-set size13 center  wide-sm wrap&#10;                \">\n<div class=\"multi\">\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"lazyload \" alt=\"\" width=\"2252\" height=\"3000\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml;charset=utf-8,%3Csvg%20xmlns%3D%27http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg%27%20width%3D%27400%27%20height%3D%27533%27%20style%3D%27background%3Argba%28127%2C127%2C127%2C0.07%29%27%2F%3E\" data-sizes=\"auto\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/img.assets-d.propublica.org\/v5\/images\/20220405-virginia-mireles.jpg?crop=focalpoint&amp;fit=crop&amp;fp-x=0.5&amp;fp-y=0.5&amp;h=533&amp;q=70&amp;w=400&amp;s=92710c911759288aed85700ead01d996 400w, https:\/\/img.assets-d.propublica.org\/v5\/images\/20220405-virginia-mireles.jpg?crop=focalpoint&amp;fit=crop&amp;fp-x=0.5&amp;fp-y=0.5&amp;h=1066&amp;q=80&amp;w=800&amp;s=8cd11353f47bbca92f79afd744c1c113 800w, https:\/\/img.assets-d.propublica.org\/v5\/images\/20220405-virginia-mireles.jpg?crop=focalpoint&amp;fit=crop&amp;fp-x=0.5&amp;fp-y=0.5&amp;h=1599&amp;q=90&amp;w=1200&amp;s=a0b131e65c8beb7e0ff509bab8cfab64 1200w, https:\/\/img.assets-d.propublica.org\/v5\/images\/20220405-virginia-mireles.jpg?crop=focalpoint&amp;fit=crop&amp;fp-x=0.5&amp;fp-y=0.5&amp;h=2131&amp;q=80&amp;w=1600&amp;s=be0ed2606b6d8a4a7ec84b00576b9967 1600w, https:\/\/img.assets-d.propublica.org\/v5\/images\/20220405-virginia-mireles.jpg?crop=focalpoint&amp;fit=crop&amp;fp-x=0.5&amp;fp-y=0.5&amp;h=2664&amp;q=80&amp;w=2000&amp;s=2e3e863dd954d79fff45f0199eea64de 2000w\"\/><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"lazyload \" alt=\"\" width=\"2252\" height=\"3000\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml;charset=utf-8,%3Csvg%20xmlns%3D%27http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg%27%20width%3D%27400%27%20height%3D%27533%27%20style%3D%27background%3Argba%28127%2C127%2C127%2C0.07%29%27%2F%3E\" data-sizes=\"auto\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/img.assets-d.propublica.org\/v5\/images\/20220405-mireles-bulletin-board.jpg?crop=focalpoint&amp;fit=crop&amp;fp-x=0.5&amp;fp-y=0.5&amp;h=533&amp;q=70&amp;w=400&amp;s=b90634b9e41e9699ef75273dd69632f9 400w, https:\/\/img.assets-d.propublica.org\/v5\/images\/20220405-mireles-bulletin-board.jpg?crop=focalpoint&amp;fit=crop&amp;fp-x=0.5&amp;fp-y=0.5&amp;h=1066&amp;q=80&amp;w=800&amp;s=df5b441cc1baaacbb0c07c39b056568f 800w, https:\/\/img.assets-d.propublica.org\/v5\/images\/20220405-mireles-bulletin-board.jpg?crop=focalpoint&amp;fit=crop&amp;fp-x=0.5&amp;fp-y=0.5&amp;h=1599&amp;q=90&amp;w=1200&amp;s=5f147b1415271b08f1de4472193d7fdb 1200w, https:\/\/img.assets-d.propublica.org\/v5\/images\/20220405-mireles-bulletin-board.jpg?crop=focalpoint&amp;fit=crop&amp;fp-x=0.5&amp;fp-y=0.5&amp;h=2131&amp;q=80&amp;w=1600&amp;s=89d6178be5686f1f053b411e9587f1f9 1600w, https:\/\/img.assets-d.propublica.org\/v5\/images\/20220405-mireles-bulletin-board.jpg?crop=focalpoint&amp;fit=crop&amp;fp-x=0.5&amp;fp-y=0.5&amp;h=2664&amp;q=80&amp;w=2000&amp;s=c28c7eab37716f8916f582e85c6446fa 2000w\"\/><\/div><figcaption class=\"attribution\"><span class=\"attribution__caption\">At her home in Mesa, Arizona, Virginia Mireles recreated a bulletin board she made in prison for comfort.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>        <span class=\"attribution__credit\"><br \/>\n        <span class=\"a11y\">Credit: <\/span><br \/>\n        Cassidy Araiza for ProPublica<br \/>\n    <\/span><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p data-pp-blocktype=\"copy\" data-pp-id=\"61.0\">The name of the judge who handed down Mireles\u2019 first sentence will forever be imprinted in her mind: Judge Deborah Bernini sent her to prison for a year for possession of $10 worth of heroin.<\/p>\n<p data-pp-blocktype=\"copy\" data-pp-id=\"62.0\">But prison didn\u2019t offer anything to treat her addiction. Mireles continued using heroin when she wasn\u2019t incarcerated, saying that at one point she felt her only purpose in life was to be a \u201cdope fiend.\u201d The most recent time she was arrested, in 2013, she had stolen $27 from a neighbor\u2019s wallet while he was in the shower.<\/p>\n<p data-pp-blocktype=\"copy\" data-pp-id=\"63.0\">\u201cI needed gas, I needed my fix,\u201d she said. \u201cAnd I needed lunch money for my kid.\u201d<\/p>\n<p data-pp-blocktype=\"copy\" data-pp-id=\"64.0\">When police showed up at her Tucson apartment, she admitted stealing the money, but said she intended to repay her neighbor when she got paid at midnight. Still, Mireles was charged with second-degree burglary and sentenced to six-and-a-half years. While she was incarcerated, the prison\u2019s addiction programs had long waitlists so she read self-help books instead .<\/p>\n<p data-pp-blocktype=\"copy\" data-pp-id=\"65.0\">Two of her three children have since had contact with the criminal justice system. Her son has been in prison and her daughter was recently released from jail.<\/p>\n<p data-pp-blocktype=\"copy\" data-pp-id=\"66.0\">\u201cSo what are we keeping people safe from? You\u2019re not just sentencing that person, it\u2019s their family as well,\u201d said Mireles, who has now stayed away from heroin for nine years and, in her free time, volunteers in the community and advocates for criminal justice reform.<\/p>\n<h3>Repeating Arguments From the 1990s<\/h3>\n<p data-pp-blocktype=\"copy\" data-pp-id=\"67.0\">Twist has continued to use the same arguments he\u2019s used since the 1990s to defend his ideas despite mounting evidence debunking them. <\/p>\n<p data-pp-blocktype=\"copy\" data-pp-id=\"67.1\">In 2019, Twist addressed the Arizona Criminal Justice Commission as it evaluated how to best collect and analyze data on the state\u2019s criminal justice system.<\/p>\n<figure data-pp-id=\"68\" data-pp-blocktype=\"audio\" class=\"bb-audio size04 right out02 wide-sm wrap&#10;         bb--border-top         \">\n<div class=\"lead-in\">\n<p class=\"lead-in__title\" id=\"hear-steve-twist-speak-to-the-arizona-criminal-justice-commission\">Hear Steve Twist Speak to the Arizona Criminal Justice Commission<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>    <audio class=\"bb-audio__player\" controls=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/assets-d.propublica.org\/v5\/audio\/Twist_Clip.mp3\"\/><figcaption class=\"attribution\"\/><\/figure>\n<p data-pp-blocktype=\"copy\" data-pp-id=\"69.0\">Twist distributed to the commission a chart showing the state\u2019s prison population and crime rate from 1974 to 2017. Overall, as the prison population rises, the crime rate declines. It echoed the fundamental argument of his 1994 \u201cReport Card on Crime and Punishment\u201d: Increasing incarceration reduces crime.<\/p>\n<p data-pp-blocktype=\"copy\" data-pp-id=\"70.0\">\u201cFor those people who say that our current system hasn\u2019t resulted in more public safety, I urge them just to consider the chart,\u201d Twist said. He pointed out that the correlation is not causation, but said the chart shows a \u201cpowerful social correlation,\u201d as the prison population has increased while the crime rate decreased.<\/p>\n<p data-pp-blocktype=\"copy\" data-pp-id=\"71.0\">\u201cBut these are more than numbers. These are tens of thousands of our fellow citizens who were not harmed by crime,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p data-pp-blocktype=\"copy\" data-pp-id=\"72.0\">Donna Hamm, founder of Middle Ground Prison Reform, an Arizona prisoner advocacy group, was present at the meeting as Twist credited lengthy sentences for the decline in crime. Twist\u2019s arguments that truth in sentencing is effective \u201cclash with reality,\u201d she said, but commission members \u2014 mostly police or prosecutors \u2014 nodded in agreement as they listened to the person Hamm calls the \u201cgodfather of the sentencing code in Arizona.\u201d<\/p>\n<p data-pp-blocktype=\"copy\" data-pp-id=\"73.0\">\u201cYou have to sit on your hands and listen to him say those things,\u201d Hamm said of Twist.<\/p>\n<p data-pp-blocktype=\"copy\" data-pp-id=\"74.0\">\u201cBut it\u2019s almost worse that there\u2019s no formal questioning or even challenging. It\u2019s like no one is even looking at the charts.\u201d Hamm continued: \u201cThese are the people in control. These are the decision makers. These are the influencers.\u201d<\/p>\n<h3>\u201cThe Invisible Hand of Steve Twist\u201d<\/h3>\n<p data-pp-blocktype=\"copy\" data-pp-id=\"75.0\">Those who have challenged Twist\u2019s ideas come to learn of his role as a gatekeeper over criminal justice policies in Arizona.<\/p>\n<p data-pp-blocktype=\"copy\" data-pp-id=\"76.0\">In 2011 and 2012, then-state Rep. Cecil Ash introduced <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/web.archive.org\/web\/20130829225122\/http:\/\/cecilash.com\/Criminal_Code_changes.html\" rel=\"noopener\">17 bills<\/a> related to the criminal justice system, including legislation to relax mandatory sentencing and to give people in prison a chance to earn early release for good behavior. Ash, a former Maricopa County public defender, said he had seen his clients accept plea agreements rather than go to trial solely because of the long sentences they would face if they lost in court.<\/p>\n<p data-pp-blocktype=\"copy\" data-pp-id=\"77.0\">He said he was told by other lawmakers, \u201cThat\u2019s been done before, you know, you\u2019ll never get anywhere,\u201d and that a fellow Republican lawmaker <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/azmemory.azlibrary.gov\/digital\/collection\/legoral\/id\/377\/\" rel=\"noopener\">cautioned him privately<\/a> that it \u201cwasn\u2019t healthy\u201d to advocate for criminal justice reform.<\/p>\n<p data-pp-blocktype=\"copy\" data-pp-id=\"78.0\">None of the bills passed. <\/p>\n<p data-pp-blocktype=\"copy\" data-pp-id=\"78.1\">Ash said that Twist didn\u2019t openly oppose his proposed reforms. He didn\u2019t have to. Twist instead relied on a network of connections built over decades to do the work.<\/p>\n<figure data-pp-id=\"79\" data-pp-blocktype=\"image\" class=\"bb-image size09 center  wide-sm wrap &#10;                \"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"lazyload \" alt=\"\" width=\"1833\" height=\"1694\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml;charset=utf-8,%3Csvg%20xmlns%3D%27http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg%27%20width%3D%27400%27%20height%3D%27370%27%20style%3D%27background%3Argba%28127%2C127%2C127%2C0.07%29%27%2F%3E\" data-sizes=\"auto\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/img.assets-d.propublica.org\/v5\/images\/20220405-steve-twist-attorney-general-B.jpg?crop=focalpoint&amp;fit=crop&amp;fp-x=0.5&amp;fp-y=0.5&amp;h=370&amp;q=70&amp;w=400&amp;s=c23bc7eee154243f111b371a8caa8c6d 400w, https:\/\/img.assets-d.propublica.org\/v5\/images\/20220405-steve-twist-attorney-general-B.jpg?crop=focalpoint&amp;fit=crop&amp;fp-x=0.5&amp;fp-y=0.5&amp;h=739&amp;q=80&amp;w=800&amp;s=91642f9d844ac06c86620cca0f6ebe07 800w, https:\/\/img.assets-d.propublica.org\/v5\/images\/20220405-steve-twist-attorney-general-B.jpg?crop=focalpoint&amp;fit=crop&amp;fp-x=0.5&amp;fp-y=0.5&amp;h=1109&amp;q=90&amp;w=1200&amp;s=75edcf61fea37da513c43f8b19cc36c6 1200w, https:\/\/img.assets-d.propublica.org\/v5\/images\/20220405-steve-twist-attorney-general-B.jpg?crop=focalpoint&amp;fit=crop&amp;fp-x=0.5&amp;fp-y=0.5&amp;h=1479&amp;q=80&amp;w=1600&amp;s=b36d0d6ca1886bc2c13c57b7597c633c 1600w, https:\/\/img.assets-d.propublica.org\/v5\/images\/20220405-steve-twist-attorney-general-B.jpg?crop=focalpoint&amp;fit=crop&amp;fp-x=0.5&amp;fp-y=0.5&amp;h=1848&amp;q=80&amp;w=2000&amp;s=d41e7b0f9d5170958877b56a92f2d2de 2000w\"\/><figcaption class=\"attribution\"><span class=\"attribution__caption\">Twist announces his candidacy in the 1990 Republican primary for Arizona Attorney General, which he lost. Despite never holding office, he has continued to wield political influence.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>        <span class=\"attribution__credit\"><br \/>\n        <span class=\"a11y\">Credit: <\/span><br \/>\n        Steve Marcus\/Arizona Daily Sun<br \/>\n    <\/span><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p data-pp-blocktype=\"copy\" data-pp-id=\"80.0\">\u201cFrom the very beginning,\u201d Maricopa County Attorney Bill Montgomery and Yavapai County Attorney Sheila Polk opposed Ash\u2019s efforts, the former lawmaker said. Both are longtime Twist allies. Polk said Twist hired her in the Arizona Attorney General\u2019s Office, and she considers Twist a personal friend. Montgomery, now a state Supreme Court justice, has described Twist as a mentor and his best friend.<\/p>\n<p data-pp-blocktype=\"copy\" data-pp-id=\"81.0\">Polk described Twist as a \u201cvery thoughtful, balanced individual\u201d and said they discuss legislation with each other. She said they both favor diversion programs that allow people to complete treatment and reentry programs that help formerly incarcerated people integrate back into society. (Montgomery said as a sitting justice it would be inappropriate for him to comment.)<\/p>\n<p data-pp-blocktype=\"copy\" data-pp-id=\"82.0\">Twist has other powerful connections. His son, J.P. Twist, ran Doug Ducey\u2019s successful campaigns for governor, and is political director for the Republican Governors Association. His wife, Shawn Cox, is head of victim services at the Maricopa County Attorney\u2019s Office and serves on the county\u2019s commission that recommends candidates for appointment as trial court judges. Steve Twist co-founded the Goldwater Institute, a conservative public policy and advocacy group that is active at the Arizona Legislature, as well as Arizona Voice for Crime Victims, a nonprofit that provides free legal representation to crime victims.<\/p>\n<p data-pp-blocktype=\"copy\" data-pp-id=\"83.0\">The Legislature in 2014 added a $2 fee to fines levied by the state\u2019s Game and Fish Department and directed the money to nonprofit groups that work with crime victims. At the time, the Arizona Capitol Times noted Arizona Voice for Crime Victims would be the only beneficiary. The nonprofit has since received nearly $4 million from the fund, records show.<\/p>\n<p data-pp-blocktype=\"copy\" data-pp-id=\"84.0\">In a recent court filing, defense attorneys raised questions about the relationship between Arizona Voice for Crime Victims and the Maricopa County Attorney\u2019s Office, alleging a conflict of interest. In a motion responding to the claim, the nonprofit called the attacks \u201cunfounded.\u201d<\/p>\n<p data-pp-blocktype=\"copy\" data-pp-id=\"85.0\">Cox, J.P. Twist and Arizona Voice for Crime Victims CEO Colleen Clase did not respond to requests for comment.<\/p>\n<p data-pp-blocktype=\"copy\" data-pp-id=\"86.0\">Democratic former state Rep. Diego Rodriguez said Twist\u2019s network of allies gives him \u201cmore influence than any Republican legislator when it comes to sentencing reform.\u201d Lawmakers listen to Twist because of his influence with the governor, he said.<\/p>\n<p data-pp-blocktype=\"copy\" data-pp-id=\"87.0\">\u201cIt\u2019s not their communities that are being drained of resources,\u201d Rodriguez said, referring to the disproportionate impact of incarceration on minority communities. <\/p>\n<p data-pp-blocktype=\"copy\" data-pp-id=\"87.1\">In 2021, Arizona had the nation\u2019s highest rate of incarceration for Latino people, according to The Sentencing Project. It ranked fifth for Black imprisonment.<\/p>\n<p data-pp-blocktype=\"copy\" data-pp-id=\"88.0\">Emails obtained through a public record request show Twist\u2019s influence in the office of the governor. In 2020, he was part of a group of business leaders on regular conference calls with Ducey to discuss the governor\u2019s COVID-19 pandemic response. In late 2020, as the governor\u2019s office prepared for an upcoming legislative session, Twist was asked to help develop the governor\u2019s agenda. That month, Twist was invited to meet privately with Ducey. Recently, Twist signed on as campaign chair for Anni Foster, Ducey\u2019s general counsel, who is running in a special election for Maricopa County attorney.<\/p>\n<p data-pp-blocktype=\"copy\" data-pp-id=\"89.0\">The governor\u2019s office did not respond to requests for comment.<\/p>\n<p data-pp-blocktype=\"copy\" data-pp-id=\"90.0\">Caroline Isaacs, executive director of Just Communities Arizona, a group that works on public safety policies that don\u2019t involve the prison system, said she repeatedly hit walls as she pursued sentencing reform at the Arizona Legislature. In 2020, Isaacs joined like-minded groups to pursue a citizens\u2019 initiative to expand earned release credits and restore judicial discretion, among other things.<\/p>\n<p data-pp-blocktype=\"copy\" data-pp-id=\"91.0\">Twist opposed the measure. <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.azcentral.com\/story\/opinion\/op-ed\/2020\/07\/26\/second-chances-ballot-initiative-will-make-arizona-less-safe\/3287959001\/\" rel=\"noopener\">An op-ed<\/a> he co-wrote with former U.S. Sen. Jon Kyl leaned on arguments Twist has made for decades: \u201cCrime was skyrocketing during the 1960s and 1970s under the system to which the proponents want to return. But since the bipartisan reforms in 1978<strong>,<\/strong> crime rates have plummeted.\u201d<\/p>\n<p data-pp-blocktype=\"copy\" data-pp-id=\"93.0\">Voters never got a chance to decide the measure. Then-Pima County Attorney Barbara LaWall and Heather Grossman, an advocate for victims of domestic violence, among others sued to challenge the petition signatures. The initiative was kicked off the ballot.<\/p>\n<p data-pp-blocktype=\"copy\" data-pp-id=\"94.0\">LaWall, known as a tough-on-crime Democrat during her 24 years as Pima County attorney, did not respond to a request for comment.<\/p>\n<p data-pp-blocktype=\"copy\" data-pp-id=\"94.1\">Grossman confirmed to ProPublica that Twist personally asked her to join the lawsuit. Twist has worked as an attorney for Grossman\u2019s foundation for victims of domestic violence, Haven of Hope.<\/p>\n<p data-pp-blocktype=\"copy\" data-pp-id=\"94.2\">\u201cThat\u2019s the invisible hand of Twist,\u201d Isaacs said.<\/p>\n<h3>Maintaining the Status Quo<\/h3>\n<p data-pp-blocktype=\"copy\" data-pp-id=\"95.0\">When Walt Blackman was elected to the Arizona House of Representatives, one of his priorities was to reform sentencing laws. A self-described \u201cstaunch\u201d conservative Republican and man of faith, Blackman said he believes people convicted of nonviolent crimes should have a chance to redeem themselves.<\/p>\n<p data-pp-blocktype=\"copy\" data-pp-id=\"96.0\">Blackman kept hearing that if he wanted to pursue criminal justice reform, he should first meet with the \u201cguru\u201d on the subject, Steve Twist. It was clear Twist was considered a gatekeeper, he said.<\/p>\n<p data-pp-blocktype=\"copy\" data-pp-id=\"97.0\">\u201cMy first impression of Steve Twist was that he had an agenda. And his agenda didn\u2019t line up with mine,\u201d Blackman said. But, he noted, \u201che didn\u2019t come out and say, \u2018Don\u2019t work on criminal justice reform.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n<figure data-pp-id=\"98\" data-pp-blocktype=\"image\" class=\"bb-image size13 center  wide-sm wrap &#10;                \"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"lazyload \" alt=\"\" width=\"3000\" height=\"2252\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml;charset=utf-8,%3Csvg%20xmlns%3D%27http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg%27%20width%3D%27400%27%20height%3D%27300%27%20style%3D%27background%3Argba%28127%2C127%2C127%2C0.07%29%27%2F%3E\" data-sizes=\"auto\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/img.assets-d.propublica.org\/v5\/images\/20220105-walt-blackman.jpg?crop=focalpoint&amp;fit=crop&amp;fp-x=0.5&amp;fp-y=0.5&amp;h=300&amp;q=70&amp;w=400&amp;s=c42f0669b73db0d8acc68b42eb140bdc 400w, https:\/\/img.assets-d.propublica.org\/v5\/images\/20220105-walt-blackman.jpg?crop=focalpoint&amp;fit=crop&amp;fp-x=0.5&amp;fp-y=0.5&amp;h=601&amp;q=80&amp;w=800&amp;s=d9a37961dabb34eb1e17ebe2511ed496 800w, https:\/\/img.assets-d.propublica.org\/v5\/images\/20220105-walt-blackman.jpg?crop=focalpoint&amp;fit=crop&amp;fp-x=0.5&amp;fp-y=0.5&amp;h=901&amp;q=90&amp;w=1200&amp;s=595604dba38701578d3d212bdf6596b8 1200w, https:\/\/img.assets-d.propublica.org\/v5\/images\/20220105-walt-blackman.jpg?crop=focalpoint&amp;fit=crop&amp;fp-x=0.5&amp;fp-y=0.5&amp;h=1201&amp;q=80&amp;w=1600&amp;s=e4373df2dd4d6df2c3538b36f018fe5c 1600w, https:\/\/img.assets-d.propublica.org\/v5\/images\/20220105-walt-blackman.jpg?crop=focalpoint&amp;fit=crop&amp;fp-x=0.5&amp;fp-y=0.5&amp;h=1501&amp;q=80&amp;w=2000&amp;s=19125632c184f503f79d0a20406616e4 2000w\"\/><figcaption class=\"attribution\"><span class=\"attribution__caption\">Arizona state Rep. Walt Blackman in his office in Phoenix<\/span><\/p>\n<p>        <span class=\"attribution__credit\"><br \/>\n        <span class=\"a11y\">Credit: <\/span><br \/>\n        Cassidy Araiza for ProPublica<br \/>\n    <\/span><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p data-pp-blocktype=\"copy\" data-pp-id=\"99.0\">During Blackman\u2019s first session, in 2019, he introduced a bill that would ease the requirement that people serve 85% of their sentences, expanding credits for good behavior and participating in programs and treatment. The legislation didn\u2019t receive a hearing.<\/p>\n<p data-pp-blocktype=\"copy\" data-pp-id=\"100.0\">In 2020, he introduced another version of the bill. That year it passed in the House unanimously but died when the session was cut short by the pandemic.<\/p>\n<p data-pp-blocktype=\"copy\" data-pp-id=\"101.0\">In 2021, Blackman was appointed chair of the House Judiciary Committee. During the committee hearing, conservative groups testified in support of the legislation. Boaz Witbeck, the state director for Americans for Prosperity, a conservative political action group, called the bill \u201ccommon sense reform,\u201d noting many states had gone much further to reduce sentences for nonviolent crimes.<\/p>\n<p data-pp-blocktype=\"copy\" data-pp-id=\"102.0\">The House passed the bill in February of that year, around the time Twist was emailing senators about his concerns with the legislation.<\/p>\n<p data-pp-blocktype=\"copy\" data-pp-id=\"103.0\">In one letter, he said he was in favor of \u201cmeaningful criminal justice reform that does not compromise public safety, nor the rights of crime victims.\u201d He claimed that crimes such as female genital mutilation and sex trafficking would receive reduced sentences under the bill.<\/p>\n<p data-pp-blocktype=\"copy\" data-pp-id=\"104.0\">Blackman said that Twist\u2019s concerns were addressed in a scaled-back version of the bill that was resurrected in the House Appropriations Committee.<\/p>\n<aside data-pp-id=\"105\" data-pp-blocktype=\"promo\" data-pp-location=\"story promo\" class=\"bb-promo-story story-promo-group size04 right out02 wide-sm wrap\">\n<p>        <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/article\/philadelphia-homicide-surge\" class=\"story-promo section-articles\" rel=\"noopener\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"story-promo__art\">\n                        <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"lazyload\" alt=\"\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml;charset=utf-8,%3Csvg%20xmlns%3D%27http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg%27%20width%3D%271%27%20height%3D%271%27%20style%3D%27background%3Atransparent%27%2F%3E\" srcset=\"https:\/\/img.assets-d.propublica.org\/v5\/images\/20210730-nakisha-couch-final.jpg?crop=focalpoint&amp;fit=crop&amp;fp-x=0.5&amp;fp-y=0.5&amp;h=75&amp;q=70&amp;w=75&amp;s=e0a1934d895e60ba130b0bf7c188aa4c 75w, https:\/\/img.assets-d.propublica.org\/v5\/images\/20210730-nakisha-couch-final.jpg?crop=focalpoint&amp;fit=crop&amp;fp-x=0.5&amp;fp-y=0.5&amp;h=150&amp;q=70&amp;w=150&amp;s=e7b74581304877548dd8aeca50759efc 150w, https:\/\/img.assets-d.propublica.org\/v5\/images\/20210730-nakisha-couch-final.jpg?crop=focalpoint&amp;fit=crop&amp;fp-x=0.5&amp;fp-y=0.5&amp;h=400&amp;q=70&amp;w=400&amp;s=fec5b2e3e21a802ce2ef757328785fb4 400w\" width=\"75\" height=\"75\" sizes=\"auto, 100vw\" data-sizes=\"auto\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/img.assets-d.propublica.org\/v5\/images\/20210730-nakisha-couch-final.jpg?crop=focalpoint&amp;fit=crop&amp;fp-x=0.5&amp;fp-y=0.5&amp;h=75&amp;q=70&amp;w=75&amp;s=e0a1934d895e60ba130b0bf7c188aa4c 75w, https:\/\/img.assets-d.propublica.org\/v5\/images\/20210730-nakisha-couch-final.jpg?crop=focalpoint&amp;fit=crop&amp;fp-x=0.5&amp;fp-y=0.5&amp;h=150&amp;q=70&amp;w=150&amp;s=e7b74581304877548dd8aeca50759efc 150w, https:\/\/img.assets-d.propublica.org\/v5\/images\/20210730-nakisha-couch-final.jpg?crop=focalpoint&amp;fit=crop&amp;fp-x=0.5&amp;fp-y=0.5&amp;h=400&amp;q=70&amp;w=400&amp;s=fec5b2e3e21a802ce2ef757328785fb4 400w\"\/><\/div>\n<p>\n                <strong class=\"story-promo__hed\">What Philadelphia Reveals About America\u2019s Homicide Surge<\/strong>\n                            <\/p>\n<p>        <\/a><\/p>\n<\/aside>\n<p data-pp-blocktype=\"copy\" data-pp-id=\"106.0\">Twist didn\u2019t appear satisfied with the results. The goal posts kept moving.<\/p>\n<p data-pp-blocktype=\"copy\" data-pp-id=\"106.1\">\u201cWhen it looked like the bill had a chance to pass, that\u2019s when he did a full on \u2018poison pill,\u2019\u201d Blackman said.<\/p>\n<p data-pp-blocktype=\"copy\" data-pp-id=\"107.0\">The Maricopa County attorney testified in favor of the revised legislation. But then, a rumor began circulating, falsely claiming that the bill would allow the early release of child sex traffickers. The county attorney\u2019s office emailed lawmakers attempting to debunk the rumor.<\/p>\n<p data-pp-blocktype=\"copy\" data-pp-id=\"108.0\">The bill died, and Blackman didn\u2019t propose reforming sentencing during this year\u2019s legislative session.<\/p>\n<p data-pp-blocktype=\"copy\" data-pp-id=\"108.1\">\u201cArizona is not ready for real criminal justice reform as long as Steve Twist is in Arizona,\u201d Blackman said. <\/p>\n<hr\/>\n<p data-pp-blocktype=\"copy\" data-pp-id=\"109.0\">Claire Tate still follows efforts to reform Arizona\u2019s criminal justice system, but now knows not to get her hopes up. Her life, she said, remains on hold. The kids got bikes for Christmas in 2020, but she hasn\u2019t taught them to ride because she doesn\u2019t want Josh to miss that milestone. Claire, who moved in 2019, sometimes walks into her kitchen and is struck with the thought that Josh has never been in that room.<\/p>\n<p data-pp-blocktype=\"copy\" data-pp-id=\"110.0\">Claire has tried to keep moving forward. When her eldest son, Elijah, wanted to wear a tie to church, Claire watched a YouTube video to learn how to tie it.<\/p>\n<figure data-pp-id=\"111\" data-pp-blocktype=\"image\" class=\"bb-image size11 center  wide-sm wrap &#10;                \"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"lazyload \" alt=\"\" width=\"3000\" height=\"2252\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml;charset=utf-8,%3Csvg%20xmlns%3D%27http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg%27%20width%3D%27400%27%20height%3D%27300%27%20style%3D%27background%3Argba%28127%2C127%2C127%2C0.07%29%27%2F%3E\" data-sizes=\"auto\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/img.assets-d.propublica.org\/v5\/images\/20220405-tate-letters.jpg?crop=focalpoint&amp;fit=crop&amp;fp-x=0.5&amp;fp-y=0.5&amp;h=300&amp;q=70&amp;w=400&amp;s=b77e81c58d82db8112db18048d933fa5 400w, https:\/\/img.assets-d.propublica.org\/v5\/images\/20220405-tate-letters.jpg?crop=focalpoint&amp;fit=crop&amp;fp-x=0.5&amp;fp-y=0.5&amp;h=601&amp;q=80&amp;w=800&amp;s=3c25050515be708d5c69fad1616d841f 800w, https:\/\/img.assets-d.propublica.org\/v5\/images\/20220405-tate-letters.jpg?crop=focalpoint&amp;fit=crop&amp;fp-x=0.5&amp;fp-y=0.5&amp;h=901&amp;q=90&amp;w=1200&amp;s=e725112eb81c44a80caefb97b7516c7f 1200w, https:\/\/img.assets-d.propublica.org\/v5\/images\/20220405-tate-letters.jpg?crop=focalpoint&amp;fit=crop&amp;fp-x=0.5&amp;fp-y=0.5&amp;h=1201&amp;q=80&amp;w=1600&amp;s=93a3dab556cc1e525c76d7e608ecbff2 1600w, https:\/\/img.assets-d.propublica.org\/v5\/images\/20220405-tate-letters.jpg?crop=focalpoint&amp;fit=crop&amp;fp-x=0.5&amp;fp-y=0.5&amp;h=1501&amp;q=80&amp;w=2000&amp;s=a9f15a7589dba12f93f53a717c7cc607 2000w\"\/><figcaption class=\"attribution\"><span class=\"attribution__caption\">Letters sent between Claire and Josh Tate during his incarceration<\/span><\/p>\n<p>        <span class=\"attribution__credit\"><br \/>\n        <span class=\"a11y\">Credit: <\/span><br \/>\n        Cassidy Araiza for ProPublica<br \/>\n    <\/span><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p data-pp-blocktype=\"copy\" data-pp-id=\"112.0\">\u201cThis has all been just peppered with a lot of loss and a lot of pain,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n<p data-pp-blocktype=\"copy\" data-pp-id=\"112.1\">Because the pandemic restricted visitation at Arizona prisons, Claire and her kids haven\u2019t seen Josh in person for more than two years. <\/p>\n<p data-pp-blocktype=\"copy\" data-pp-id=\"112.2\">She has saved all of what she calls the \u201cbig\u201d things. Someday, they\u2019ll go to the beach, a petting zoo and see the redwoods. Josh will be out of prison next July.<\/p>\n<figure data-pp-id=\"113\" data-pp-blocktype=\"callout\" data-pp-location=\"callout\" class=\"bb-callout size08 center  wide-sm wrap\">\n<div class=\"lead-in\">\n<p class=\"lead-in__title\" id=\"do-you-have-a-tip-for-propublica-help-us-do-journalism\">Do You Have a Tip for ProPublica? Help Us Do Journalism.<\/p>\n<div class=\"lead-in__intro\">\n<p>Got a story we should hear? Are you down to be a background source on a story about your community, your schools or your workplace? Get in touch.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>    <a target=\"_blank\" class=\"bb-callout__expand-button | btn btn--dark size02 center hide\" href=\"https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/article\/#\" data-pp-view=\"\" data-pp-category=\"get involved\" data-pp-action=\"expand\" rel=\"noopener\">Expand<\/a><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n<div class=\"article-body__bottom-notes\" data-pp-location=\"bottom-note\">\n<div class=\"article-body__note article-body__note--contributor-line\" data-pp-location=\"bottom-note\">\n<p><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/people\/mollie-simon\" rel=\"noopener\">Mollie Simon<\/a> contributed research.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><!-- end .article-body__bottom-notes --><\/p><\/div>\n<p>[ad_2]<br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/article\/the-invisible-hand-of-steve-twist\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>[ad_1] ProPublica is a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power. Sign up for Dispatches,&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":30434,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-30433","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-careers"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cjstudents.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30433","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cjstudents.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cjstudents.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cjstudents.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cjstudents.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=30433"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cjstudents.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30433\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":30435,"href":"https:\/\/cjstudents.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30433\/revisions\/30435"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cjstudents.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/30434"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cjstudents.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=30433"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cjstudents.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=30433"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cjstudents.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=30433"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}