Because 90% of all prisoners in the United States are in state facilities, the work that states are doing to reduce their prison populations is crucial. Attempting to end mass incarceration necessitates realizing this is a situation requiring not one national solution, but fifty state solutions. Below are current state solutions that could be effectively modeled by other states for meaningful reform.
“If you are hearing these types of statistics for the first time and are very surprised, you are not alone. Most are very surprised. And as you might suspect, our unique incarceration habit is a very expensive one. It is a budget-busting endeavor that is eating an ever-increasing percentage of state budgets around the nation, and it is doing so at the expense of other worthwhile and necessary public investments.“
Mississippi Clarion Ledger
March 11, 2019
Read More“The state should also consider alternatives to incarceration, such as substance abuse treatment and diversions to other support services, as well as the decriminalization of marijuana. Programs that include substance abuse counseling can actually help correct people’s behavior and keep them out of prison. Legislators could also enact sentencing reform that reduces the amount of time for less serious drug and property offenses.“
Mississippi Clarion Ledger
September 9, 2018
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