“Most crimes in America are committed by people who have committed crimes before,” Holder said. “About 67 percent of former state prisoners and 40 percent of former federal prisoners are re-arrested within three years of release. If we can reduce the rate of recidivism, we will directly reduce the crime rate.”

Prisoners who undergo drug treatment and/or work training in prison are 16 percent less likely to re-offend after their release, he said.

He praised New York state's program of diversion for drug offenders, sending them to treatment instead of prison.

He also called our over-reliance on prisons "economically unsustainable":

“Every state in the union is trying to trim budgets,” Holder said. “States and localities are laying off teachers, cutting back on public health, and canceling after-school programs for our children. But in almost all cases, spending on prisons continues to rise. This is unsustainable economically.”

He even pointed out the inadequacy of indigent defense funding:

Holder provoked applause from the delegates when he complained that across the country, state and local governments are under-funding public defenders, whose growing caseloads make it difficult for them to adequately represent their clients.

This is a message whose time has come. I spent an hour today interviewing Manhattan District Attorney candidate Richard Aborn (interview will be up in a few days.) One of his core messages was we need to get away from the reactive way of approaching crime and focus on prevention and intervention and finding alternatives to prison. He had concrete, well-thought out suggestions of how to do this.

There's a lot of momentum now for real reform, and the opportunity to become smart about crime rather than just tough on crime. The money we're throwing into prisons could be so much better used for prevention and intervention -- and for education and health care. I hope everyone jumps on the bandwagon while we have the opportunity.