New Crime Reports Call for Prison Reform, Shorter Sentences
Posted on Wed Nov 21, 2007 at 02:39:26 PM EST
Tags: prison, jail (all tags)
Call for prison reform are finally drawing attention from policy makers and members of the law enforcement community. Via the Scout Report at the University of Wisconsin:
- U.S. Prison system a costly and harmful failure
about recent JFA report. - California a leader in number of youths in prison for life
- Crack cocaine sentence cut is stalled by retroactivity
- NPR: Should Sentencing Reform Be Retroactive? [Real Player]
- Unlocking America [pdf]
- Bureau of Justice Statistics
Within the vast world of pressing policy problems, system-wide prison reform in the United States has been a subject that has vexed even the most dedicated experts and committed activists. Over the past four decades, the prison population has risen eight-fold, and people have laid the blame on everything from mandatory sentencing laws to economic restructuring in America's manufacturing regions. 
More....
This week, the JFA Institute released a
report which contains a number of thoughtful policy recommendations which have generated comments from criminologists, politicians, and judges. Some of these findings may prove to be controversial, as they include recommendations for shorter sentences, and alternative punishments.
The long-term effects of the current sentencing guidelines may have a deleterious effect on certain communities, as the report notes: "The massive incarceration of young male from mostly poor-and working-class neighborhoods, and the taking of women from their families and jobs, has
crippled their potential for forming healthy families and achieving economic gains." [KMG]
The first link [above]will take users to an article from this Monday's Macon Daily which discusses the release of the report from the