Walt Blackman, a Republican legislator, who is known for supporting criminal justice reforms, but who also has a sustained record of supporting conservative Republican values, such as being opposed to abortion, has come under fire for inartful remarks he made about George Floyd and Black Lives Matter. As a result, some organizations who anointed him as their savior on sentencing reform have now wholly rejected him. As the saying goes, “Politics makes for strange bedfellows.”

Does no one remember last summer when Rep. Reginald Bolding, a Democrat, wanted to discuss racial disparity in the criminal justice system and racism in general as an agenda item at the Ad Hoc Committee on Earned Release Credits? Rep. Blackman abruptly shut him down, asserting that the topic would be taken up at a separate committee hearing, which never occurred. Why wasn’t Blackman criticized or abandoned then?

These groups who are willing to immediately abandon Walt Blackman, including American Friends Service Committee and the American Civil Liberties Union, are the same groups openly supporting a citizens’ initiative for the upcoming November ballot. If passed into law, the initiative would allow those persons who have looted and stolen property from businesses they destroyed and damaged to serve only 50% of any sentence imposed if convicted of a non-dangerous crime, such as burglary, criminal damage, trespassing, theft, etc.

As written, the initiative does not require the prisoner to take any treatment or rehabilitative programming in order to be eligible for automatic release after serving only 50% of the sentence. And the initiative is retroactive just in case these defendants, some of whom were recently arrested, are actually convicted prior to the effective date of any initiative passed into law. Of course, thousands of other designated non-dangerous offenders will also become eligible for release at 50% of the imposed sentence if the initiative passes.

Black Lives Matter is not a terrorist organization, and nothing in George Floyd’s criminal history justifies the manner in which he was treated by Minneapolis police, resulting in his tragic and preventable death. There are serious and long-standing problems in every single aspect of our criminal justice system that will not be corrected overnight or even in just one election cycle. Piecemeal fixes and Band Aid solutions will likely cause more problems – not fewer. Institutional racism exists and it is not really something that can be legislated away.

There is no more important time than now for all voices, opinions and ideas to be heard. Likewise, it is still important, and always has been, for criminal offenders to be held accountable for their unlawful behavior, to accept full responsibility for the harm their actions may have caused to others, and to learn and incorporate new ways of thinking and acting into their personal mode of conduct.

Authentic rehabilitation doesn’t happen through the mere passage of time, and we all need to give thoughtful consideration to any laws that seek to reduce accountability for the criminal offender himself, first and foremost. But we also have a duty and responsibility, thus far poorly executed by our government officials and decision-makers, to actively and effectively facilitate the ability to rehabilitate through effective treatment and programming, and the reintegration of criminal offenders into our community upon their release from prison.

It is time for everyone to take a breath and re-group. Politicians are all running for re-election this year and this amps up the rhetoric on all levels. We at Middle Ground Prison Reform have never been fans of holding signs and making noise in front of government offices, if only because it fuels the media’s need for “visuals” but does not offer an organized presentation of coherent plans. But if all that energy can be marshaled into written proposals for change, proposed legislation, concrete solutions that comport with the law, we can achieve progress and improvement – and fairness – in the lives of those left behind.

We have months to go before the November elections, when real change is possible – when one’s voice is translated to one’s vote. I hope every single person in Arizona who is braving the heat, the police, possible curfew violations and other personal challenges will maintain the currently displayed commitment and motivation for change into the required necessity to register to vote – and to vote.

Donna Leone Hamm is director of Middle Ground Prison Reform.

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