Winning criminal justice reforms takes taxpayers, lawmakers, and policy organizations coming together, fighting for good policy, and—hopefully—building lasting coalitions. When this happens successfully, thousands of ex-offenders in any given state can have renewed hope to turn their life around.

This was especially evident with the criminal justice victory that the Sutherland Institute won recently.

Earlier this year, Utah’s legislature passed the Clean Slate Initiative, a bipartisan reform plan to make it easier for many ex-offenders to get their records expunged. The program is specifically for ex-offenders with non-violent offenses on their record who have served their sentence without reoffending. For those trying to put their lives back together, a clean record can be the difference between having a job or struggling to make ends meet, having a place to live or being homeless, and having hope for a better future or being left behind.

The problems of the criminal justice system touch every person’s life in some way—even if they are not aware of it. Aside from the societal and criminal repercussions of failed criminal justice policies, rising prison populations can consume more and more dollars from a state’s budget.

The Sutherland Institute developed a campaign to educate Utahns about the state’s flawed criminal justice policies and show the system could be fixed. To build a broad coalition around the Clean Slate Initiative, Sutherland engaged with voters, taxpayers, and partners across the political spectrum. By engaging with the largest audience possible, Sutherland was able to show how criminal justice reform is a truly bipartisan issue everyone can support.

Sutherland’s broad coalition was important to build momentum for Clean Slate. But one partnership in particular was valuable beyond measure. Joseph Grenny from The Other Side Academy (TOSA) worked with Sutherland to show legislators and taxpayers how sensible criminal justice reform is not only compassionate policy but also sound fiscal policy.

TOSA brings ex-offenders out of jails and gives them vocational and life skills training. They succeed through value-based organizational practices and group accountability. Remarkably, TOSA doesn’t cost any tax dollars—it funds itself using for-profit enterprises to generate revenue for the school and teach students how to work and gain the skills needed for a productive life. On average nationally, about two-thirds of offenders who serve their time and are released from prison will be rearrested within three years of their release. But for TOSA graduates that number is reversed: Two-thirds of graduates go on to lead successful lives with good jobs and a positive family life.

Together, TOSA and Sutherland showed Utahns from all walks of life why criminal justice reforms like Clean Slate are necessary.

When the Utah legislature passed the Clean Slate Initiative in March 2019, every member of Sutherland’s coalition celebrated a well-deserved victory. And with these powerful relationships established, the coalition is poised to be a catalyst for more state and local change in the future.