The Free Press, Mankato, Minn., on reducing sentences:

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July 19, 2012

The Free Press, Mankato, Minn., on reducing sentences:

The Free Press The Pryor Times Thu Jul 19, 2012, 08:38 AM CDT

Jails and prisons are there for a reason: to keep the public safe, to deter crime, bring a sense of justice and responsibility, and, hopefully, reform offenders.

A new report suggests that cash-strapped states could save millions of dollars by reducing sentences for nonviolent crimes without risking an increase in crime.

The numbers of inmates and costs to hold them are significant — one in 100 adults are federal-state-local inmates.

The inmate population has been rising — even as serious crime has been falling — as state Legislatures and Congress take politically popular anti-crime stances and pass tougher sentencing requirements for a range of crimes.

The Pew Center on the States found that state prisoners released in 2009 served an average of nine additional months in custody — 36 percent longer — than offenders released in 1990. That’s an extra cost of $23,300 per offender. . . .

Pew research in several states showed that nonviolent offenders held for shorter times did not cause an increase in crime...

A more sensible and cost effective approach for many nonviolent and drug crimes is shorter prison sentences with more required treatment.

In the end, the fuel behind a majority of crimes is substance abuse. Focusing resources on breaking those addictions not only saves money but improves the lives of those affected, their families and communities.

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The Free Press, Mankato, Minn., on reducing sentences:

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