Over-reliance on incarceration as a tool of punishment….
In the last several decades, prison sentences have become an increasingly central component of our criminal justice system. Tough-on-crime policies have produced mandatory minimum laws and three-strikes laws, which increase the use of prison and the length of prison sentences for minor offenses. Truth in sentencing laws require longer stays in prison before inmates’ good behavior can warrant review of their case. Today, one out of every 100 Americans lives behind bars, and the statistics are even worse for minorities.
…drains our budgets, harms our communities, and fails to make us safer.
Sentencing practices that rely excessively or exclusively on incarceration harm our communities and sap government funds. Prisons are appropriate for many violent offenders. However, prison is not always the best way to make us safe – indeed, there is only a limited and diminishing relationship between incarceration and reduced crime rates. Rather than encouraging criminals to become peaceful, productive citizens, prison culture often has the opposite effect, operating as a graduate school for crime. Mandatory minimum and three strikes laws eliminate judicial discretion and instead place sentencing authority almost entirely in the hands of prosecutors. Sentencing people to longer prison terms more frequently is also a significant cost. Many states are staggering under the financial weight of their growing prison populations, in some cases spending more on their corrections system than on higher education. The true cost of harsh sentencing practices is felt, though, when our criminal justice system tears communities apart by unnecessarily locking up their mothers, their fathers, and their employees.
Justice Fellowship calls for proportionate and effective sentencing.
Justice Fellowship calls for sentencing systems that promote justice and protect safety. All states should establish sentencing commissions to review sentencing practices and their effects on public safety. The U.S. Sentencing Commission and existing state commissions should reform their sentencing guidelines to be clear, consistent, and proportionate to the gravity of offense. Congress and state legislatures should eliminate mandatory minimums that disrupt sentencing guidelines and harshly punish minor offenses. Three strikes laws should be abolished. Good time credit opportunities should be increased and truth in sentencing laws should be reformed to reduce the time an offender must be in prison before he or she is eligible for parole. In addition, courts should employ alternative sentences that focus on rehabilitation and restitution in place of incarceration. These things have an impressive record of changing offenders’ lives. Adopting these smarter responses to crime will make our communities safer and healthier in the most cost-efficient way.
Justice eReports
Giving Prisoners a Second Chance
April 24, 2008, Vol. 7, No. 6
Second Chance Act Passes Congress!
March 13, 2008, Vol. 7, No. 4
House Passes Second Chance Act, 347-62
November 15, 2007, Vol. 6, No. 12
Second Chance Act Dies on Last Night of Senate Session; We'll Be Back
December 21, 2006, Vol. 5, No. 10
One Last Push for the Second Chance Act
October 12, 2006, Vol. 5, No. 7
U.S. Supreme Court Examines Sentencing Guidelines
December 1, 2004, Vol. 3, No. 29
Study Shows Three-Strikes Laws Do Not Reduce Violent Crime
March 10, 2004, Vol. 3, No. 10
Misguided and Unconstitutional Guidelines
January 26, 2005, Vol. 4, No. 2
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