Project Horizon: Improving Our Criminal Justice System

PHPI’s Project Horizon advocated for Criminal Justice legislation at both the state and federal levels of government, engaging with local officials, congressional legislators, and their staff on Capitol Hill. Horizon focused its efforts on two bills: Virginia’s Codi Alert Program and the federal Pregnant Women in Custody Act.

The Codi Alert Program fixed a loophole in the existing Amber Alert program that prevented alerts from being issued to the community unless there was proof that the missing child had specifically been abducted. This bill was proposed in response to the case of Codi Bigsby, a two-year-old child who went missing in January 2022. At the time of his disappearance, there was no proof that he had been abducted, so the community could not be notified or mobilized to help. As a result, Codi was not found in time. The Codi Alert Program was proposed to rectify this error and strengthen a system that can save the lives of children across Virginia.

Project Horizon contacted every member of Governor Youngkin’s policy staff to advocate for this critical piece of legislation, and Governor Youngkin signed the bill into law on April 8th.

Project Horizon also supported the Pregnant Women in Custody Act, which implements safeguards against the harm or abuse of incarcerated pregnant women. The bill is designed to provide appropriate health care services, ban the use of solitary confinement, limit restrictive housing, and increase reporting requirements for pregnant prisoners. 

Project Horizon advocated for this policy to protect women and their unborn children by communicating their in-depth research and analysis of the issue with many key congressional offices, including a successful personal meeting with Representative Andy Biggs’ office.