State officials and community hold open forum on criminal justice system

It was a packed crowd Tuesday night at the Trinity Faith Christian Center in Lewes. Residents turning out to continue the discussion on Delaware’s criminal justice system.

The forum organizer, Charlotte King, of the Southern Delaware Alliance for Racial Justice says, “There’s been a sense of hopelessness around the nation but especially in the community. I’ve talked to people that I thought were more optimistic than me and they’re not so I hope they bring a sense of hope that were going to work as a state to do whatever is good for all the citizens of this state.”

Leading the discussion were Delaware Attorney General Matt Denn and Chief Defender Brendan O’Neill. The hope was to shed light on the prosecution and defense process, plea hearings, and even their goals to reduce mass incarceration.

Matt Denn proclaimed to the audience, “Violent crime on a whole in the state has been on a downward slope and it continues to be but our homicide rate has remained stubbornly high.”

For Sandy Spence, learning about their plan of action to reduce incarceration was at the top of her list.

“We want money spent to provide services and health care and mental health care and things of that nature instead of putting everybody in prison,” explained Spence.

Charlotte King  tells 47 she’s trying to change the public’s narrative so reform can occur.

“That’s what the goal is and that’s a long term process to change the public’s narrative and it would be nice to reach the millennials and even those younger because those are the generations that will really save America,” exclaims King. 

We’re told this forum did stir up some frustration, after many of the answers were centered around the lack of resources for reforms. Although, organizers continue to hope that maybe through education they can truly inspire change to the system.