Marc A. Levin, Esq., and Khalil Cumberbatch co-lead the Centering Justice Initiative at the Council on Criminal Justice, where Levin is Chief Policy Counsel and Cumberbatch is Director of Engagement and Partnerships. They can be reached at mlevin@counciloncj.org and khalil@counciloncj.org.

Iowa has built something worth protecting on public safety. Its violent crime rate is roughly a quarter below the national average, overall crime has been declining for years, and the state’s recidivism rate has fallen to a ten-year low of about 33 percent, down from 39 percent in 2019. Iowa has done all of this while locking up its residents at a rate nearly a quarter below the national norm. That combination — better outcomes, fewer people behind bars — is exactly what evidence-based criminal justice policy is supposed to look like.

Governor Kim Reynolds has until June 2 to decide whether to sign House File 2542, a three-strikes mandatory sentencing measure rushed through in the final hours of the 2026 legislative session. She should look hard at what it will actually cost — and what Iowa already has to lose.