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Tuesday, August 09, 2011

Law - "Smart Reform Is Possible: States Reducing Incarceration Rates and Costs While Protecting Communities"

A new report, out today from the ACLU, is titled "Smart Reform Is Possible: States Reducing Incarceration Rates and Costs While Protecting Communities." From the description:

This report highlights six traditionally "tough on crime" states — Texas, Mississippi, Kansas, South Carolina, Kentucky, and Ohio — that recently passed significant bipartisan reforms to reduce their prison populations and budgets. These states experienced declines in their crime rates while these new policies were in place. The report also highlights national trends in criminal justice legislation and offers a number of recommended ways that lawmakers in other states can reform their pre-trial, sentencing, parole, and probation systems. Smart Reform is Possible serves as an exciting and essential blueprint for states on the cusp of considering the reform of their corrections systems.
ILB readers know that sentencing reform was a big issue in Indiana during the last session, but it failed totally. Here is how the discussion of Indiana in the new ACLU report reads:
Indiana: A Missed Opportunity, but Hope for 2012

Recognizing the need for reducing prison populations and costs in Indiana, Governor Mitch Daniels (R) proposed a comprehensive package of criminal justice reforms to save the state more than $1 billion. The proposal, which received technical assistance from the Council of State Governments, aimed to rely less on prisons for nonviolent offenses, thereby freeing up space for individuals who pose the greatest threat to public safety. Bipartisan legislators introduced and championed the reforms, packaged as SB 561.

Unfortunately, using “tough on crime” rhetoric, prosecutors persuaded the Senate to pass an amended version of the bill that turned the original proposal on its head. Had the amended version become law, it would have actually increased prison time, populations, and budgets; the state would have had to build three new prisons, at a cost of $210 million each with an additional $48 million a year to operate them. Governor Daniels rightfully announced that he would veto such a costly and ineffective bill. The legislature then chose to let the bill die rather than send the governor a bill that he would veto.

Governor Daniels and reform groups have already announced they will push another effort for comprehensive reform next year.302 The state has also formed a study committee to explore marijuana decriminalization and non-prison alternatives for offenses. Indiana remains a state at a crossroads: if state officials are serious about closing the deficit and reducing unnecessary incarceration, they will pass legislation in 2012 that models the Governor’s original vision.

Posted by Marcia Oddi on August 9, 2011 07:19 PM
Posted to General Law Related