The federal HALT Fentanyl Act advancing through Congress would increase prison time for fentanyl traffickers.

Kentuckians convicted on distribution charges involving more than 10 grams of fentanyl would receive at least five years in prison, or no fewer than 10 if they had a prior conviction. For cases involving larger amounts of the substance and a second conviction, the minimum sentence would be 20 years.

Shreeta Waldon, executive director of the Kentucky Harm Reduction Coalition, said the legislation will have little effect on helping individuals and families who lives are affected by substance use.

"It's been a failed concept but we continue to try to use that same concept with different language," Waldon contended. "We're just dealing with the War on Drugs 2.0."

According to the 2023 Kentucky Drug Overdose Fatality Report, nearly 2,000 Kentuckians lost their lives last year to a drug overdose. Fentanyl accounted for almost 80% of those deaths, and methamphetamine accounted for around 55%.

Waldon pointed out a lack of education about fentanyl and other drugs has contributed to a spike in use among the Commonwealth's youngest residents, despite an overall decline in fentanyl-related death rates statewide.

"Now we're seeing more and more reports of youth who are having building an inappropriate relationship with substance," Waldon reported. "That is a big issue in our larger cities like Louisville and Lexington."

She added a major concern is the dwindling local resources for harm reduction strategies, noting recently passed state laws to criminalize camping and homelessness have created additional barriers.

"We're penalizing poverty," Waldon argued. "We're penalizing substance use disorder or chaotic use. We're penalizing people who do not realize the access to resources around them because of messaging, because of stigma, because of shame."

The HALT Fentanyl Act would reclassify fentanyl-related substances as Schedule I drugs. Currently, fentanyl is a Schedule II controlled substance. In 2021, the federal Drug Enforcement Administration made more than 3,000 arrests nationwide for fentanyl.


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After President Donald Trump's decision to dismiss lawsuits and drop federal accountability agreements with several police departments, Mississippi advocacy groups are joining the ACLU to expand accountability efforts through the "Seven States Campaign."

Trump's decision includes pausing a pattern and practice probe in the Rankin County "Goon Squad" case, in which six law enforcement officers were sentenced for torturing and sexually assaulting two Black men during a January 2023 home raid.

Joshua Tom, legal director for the ACLU of Mississippi, said such offenses make oversight necessary.

"The 'Goon Squad' case, I think, is a very egregious example of law enforcement engaging in illegal misconduct when performing its duties," Tom asserted.

Investigations found the squad operated for years with impunity. The campaign has now filed requests for all use-of-force reports and taser deployment records from the Rankin County Sheriff's Department since 2020.

Tom argued a lack of federal oversight leaves gaps in accountability.

"You know there is only so many civil rights organizations that can step up on behalf of people who have been harmed by police officers," Tom acknowledged. "That's what the importance of the Department of Justice is, for ensuring that law enforcement agencies are respecting civil rights laws, because they act as a backstop."

The Trump administration said it wants to prioritize violent crime prosecution over police reform.


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May is National Foster Care Month, and Kentucky advocacy groups across the political spectrum say the state hasn't done enough to keep kids out of foster care, including addressing the high number of parents who are incarcerated.

A report from the conservative, free-market group Kentucky Forum for Rights, Economics and Education, or KY FREE, finds the state would save $74 million in direct incarceration costs, and $740 million annually through indirect socioeconomic costs, if parents had alternatives to prison time.

Sarah Durand, KY FREE's vice president for government affairs, said the consequences of going through childhood without a parent are lifelong.

"If we can keep families together by getting families the help that they need," she said, "we know that that increases the likelihood of children being successful."

One in 10 Kentucky children has experienced a parent's incarceration, which is considered an Adverse Childhood Experience. Experts have said these children are at increased risk of poverty, behavioral problems and poor academic performance.

Earlier this year, Kentucky lawmakers proposed the Family Preservation and Accountability Act. It aimed to reduce the number of primary caregivers behind bars, but stalled in the Legislature. Durand said it offered pathways for people who were nonviolent primary caregivers to avoid incarceration.

"It would ask the courts to consider an alternative sentencing program instead of incarceration," she said. "Maybe they need educational, vocational training in order to improve their situation in life. Maybe they need therapy. Maybe they need substance-abuse treatment."

Durand added that policymakers concerned about strained state budgets should consider the wide-ranging impact on communities when parents are locked up.

"When you look at the long-term consequences and expenses of not trying to keep families together," she said, "it's pretty eye opening."

KY FREE advocates for pretrial diversion programs, which focus on counseling or community service, mental health and veterans treatment courts, and drug court programs as alternatives to incarceration.


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According to researchers from Michigan State University, Yale and Johns Hopkins, ransomware is now the leading culprit behind U.S. health data breaches.

Ransomware is malicious software that hijacks a victim's files or systems and holds them hostage for money. At least four Michigan hospitals have been hit in recent years, including Michigan Medicine, which had more than 55,000 patients affected. McLaren Health Care topped the list with 2.5 million records breached.

The study revealed nationwide, hackers have exposed 285 million patient records over the past 15 years.

John Jiang, professor of information systems at Michigan State University and the study's lead author, said cyber crooks are hunting for specific data.

"They're looking for Social Security numbers, driver's license, individual birthdays," Jiang outlined. "Because they could to use this information to commit fraud, or selling on the black market."

Jiang pointed out health care providers don't have a lot of cybersecurity resources, so he said it is crucial to protect the most sensitive information first, for example, setting up separate systems to handle personal information.

In 2024, ransomware was behind just 11% of health care breaches nationwide but it did the most damage, compromising about 70% of all patient records. The new research builds on earlier studies showing internal mistakes, not hackers, caused more than half of health care data breaches, including lost devices and misdirected emails.

Jiang warned such breaches can also pose serious risks to patients' health.

"This person is allergic to a certain medicine," Jiang suggested. "If the hackers mess up the system, or modified whatever information, that could cause a life-changing event."

The researchers urged federal regulators to require hospitals and insurers to report ransomware attacks, change how they measure breach severity to include care disruptions and track cryptocurrency to stop ransom payments.


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