Timothy Heaphy: Prisons can’t improve until sentencing does
"It is essential that we address worsening prison conditions, as many current proposals do. Reentry programs in our jails and prisons pay for themselves in reduced recidivism. But for these prison reforms to have the desired impact, we also have to rethink who we are sending to prison in the first place. We have to decrease the current prison population as well as reduce the number of people entering our prisons. The way to do that is by simultaneously pursuing sentencing reform."
The Virginian-Pilot
September 2, 2018