3.01.2008

"...the country's prison population over the past 20 years has been driven by policy choices, not by spikes in crime or the nation's population."

Continuing with a "prison" theme this Saturday morning, here's some disturbing, sobering and scary news.... Trust me when I tell you that America's prisons have become little more than seething "hate" factories for many inmates; folks who 20 years ago would never have seen the inside of a jail cell are now locked up for ridiculously long times. Of course, the vast majority of those with long sentences are poor, and you bet your ass people are pissed at the often draconian sentences they are given for crimes those with money enough to pay for good defense walk away from. The costs to society for housing these inmates are enormous, but more importantly, some of these folks are brewing a kind of hatred towards our government and "authority figures" that makes them exceptionally dangerous when they're released. Now it might be a little different if some of these folks leaving the pen were able to reintegrate into society, but often society has turned its collective back on the vast majority of them, leaving them hopeless and desperate. Those that do spend their time in the pen rethinking their previous lifestyles often face difficulties, obstacles and barriers that prevent them from ever living a "normal" life in society. I've said it time and time again here; when a person becomes desperate, all bets are off, baby. Ethics, morals, good citizenship and normative behaviors exhibited by a "rational and prudent person" go out the window. And in case you hadn't noticed, these folks are stepping back into society every day and we must live side by side with them.
Hartford Courant (Connecticut)
February 29, 2008 Friday 5 NORTHWEST CONNECTICUT/SPORTS FINAL EDITION
1 IN 100 ADULTS IN JAIL; PRISON POPULATIONS IN STATE, NATION HIT ALL-TIME HIGH KATIE MELONE; Courant Staff Writer MAIN; Pg. A1

The prison population in Connecticut and the nation reached an all-time high in January, reflecting the quandary many states face of maintaining public safety while managing overcrowded prisons in a $50 billion-a-year system.

A report released Thursday by the Pew Center on the States, a self-described non-partisan group, found that 2.3 million Americans - or roughly 1 in 100 adults - are living behind bars, and that the consistent increase in the country's prison population over the past 20 years has been driven by policy choices, not by spikes in crime or the nation's population.

"Getting tough on criminals has also gotten tough on taxpayers," but there hasn't been a corresponding reduction in crime, said Adam Gelb, a project manager on the study. "Leaders from both parties are saying, 'We're not getting our money's worth out of prisons.' "

A 127 percent increase in prison spending by states since 1987 accompanied the spike in the prison population nationwide in the same period, according to the study. In Connecticut, for example, Gov. M. Jodi Rell has proposed spending roughly $668 million on the Department of Correction, the state's largest employer, in the upcoming fiscal year. The state is one of only five that spends dollar-for-dollar as much or more on corrections as it does on higher education.

"While states don't necessarily chose between higher education and corrections, a dollar spent in one area is unavailable for another," the study stated.

Echoing the nationwide statistics, the state's 19,438 inmates recorded on Jan. 1 exceeded the previous high of 19,216 in 2003, according to Department of Correction figures on its website. The Pew study puts Connecticut's population at an even higher figure - 20,784 - but that figure may include inmates living in halfway houses.

The Department of Correction does not know how the Pew study got the 20,784 figure, said Brian Garnett, a spokesman. According to the Pew study's methodology notes, the numbers came from the Association of State Correctional Administrators, which collected the figures from each state's department of correction.

The state's own figures place the prison population 536 inmates higher than it was in January 2007. Much of the increase is attributed to a five-month ban on parole Rell instituted in September immediately after a parolee stole a car at knifepoint and two months after the brutal Cheshire killings of a mother and two daughters. Two parolees were charged in the killings.

In the months leading up to the Cheshire killings, the prison population caught the attention of state officials because it started to approach record levels for the first time in a few years. In 2003, the state reversed a 15-year rise in prison inmates, and in February 2007, Pew projected that Connecticut would be one of only two states to maintain a level prison population through 2011.

Regardless of the exact figures, the Pew study's authors say it's time for states to focus on incarcerating only those individuals who pose a threat to public safety and find a mix of alternatives and sanctions for nonviolent offenders to lower incarceration rates.

Pew has held Connecticut up as a model for instituting policies to reduce the number of parolees and probationers sent back to the prison system for technical violations. Connecticut's Correction Commissioner Theresa Lantz, too, has focused on preparing inmates for their eventual release and transition to society, and holds up as an example community release programs like the state's halfway house system, which has been shown to cut an inmate's risk of recidivism.

"Connecticut is not just trying to put new programs in place, but we're carefully researching what we're doing so we can document that what we're doing isn't contrary to public safety and what we're doing is having a demonstrable effect on the prison population," said William Carbone, the executive director of the judicial department's court support services division, which has focused on probationers who are susceptible to technical violations. "We're now seeing the fruits of that strategy."

But the state may need a quicker, more widespread fix to the state's overcrowding problem.

Rell has proposed funding for offender re-entry and for offenders caught in a cycle of being released from prison to homelessness.

As prison unions, inmates and some legislators are again decrying the overcrowding, Lantz has declined to define the prison system's capacity, saying the system can handle fluctuations.

"You're either going to have to build more prisons or you're going to have to increase the social service and community service operations," said state Sen. Andrew McDonald, D-Stamford, co-chairman of the judiciary committee. "Doing nothing isn't an option."

"The legislature has a proper role in forming public policy, but certainly the executive branch has a responsibility," he added. "As the managers on the front line, they need to share with us their best estimates of how they handle the ballooning prison population and they haven't done that thus far."

END Pew Report Finds More than One in 100 Adults are Behind Bars

Pew Contact: Jessica Riordan, Communications (215) 575-4886; jriordan@pewtrusts.org

Washington, DC - 02/28/2008 - For the first time in history more than one in every 100 adults in America are in jail or prison—a fact that significantly impacts state budgets without delivering a clear return on public safety. According to a new report released today by the Pew Center on the States’ Public Safety Performance Project, at the start of 2008, 2,319,258 adults were held in American prisons or jails, or one in every 99.1 men and women, according to the study. During 2007, the prison population rose by more than 25,000 inmates. In addition to detailing state and regional prison growth rates, Pew’s report, One in 100: Behind Bars in America 2008, identifies how corrections spending compares to other state investments, why it has increased, and what some states are doing to limit growth in both prison populations and costs while maintaining public safety. As prison populations expand, costs to states are on the rise. Last year alone, states spent more than $49 billion on corrections, up from $11 billion 20 years before. However, the national recidivism rate remains virtually unchanged, with about half of released inmates returning to jail or prison within three years. And while violent criminals and other serious offenders account for some of the growth, many inmates are low-level offenders or people who have violated the terms of their probation or parole. “For all the money spent on corrections today, there hasn’t been a clear and convincing return for public safety,” said Adam Gelb, director of the Public Safety Performance Project. “More and more states are beginning to rethink their reliance on prisons for lower-level offenders and finding strategies that are tough on crime without being so tough on taxpayers.” According to the report, 36 states and the Federal Bureau of Prisons saw their prison populations increase in 2007. Among the seven states with the largest number of prisoners—those

with more than 50,000 inmates—three grew (Ohio, Florida and Georgia), while four (New York, Michigan, Texas and California) saw their populations dip. Texas surpassed California as the nation’s prison leader following a decline in both states’ inmate populations—Texas decreased by 326 inmates and California by 4,068. Ten states, meanwhile, experienced a jump in inmate population growth of 5 percent or greater, a list topped by Kentucky with a surge of 12 percent. A close examination of the most recent U.S. Department of Justice data (2006) found that while one in 30 men between the ages of 20 and 34 is behind bars, the figure is one in nine for black males in that age group. Men are still roughly 13 times more likely to be incarcerated, but the female population is expanding at a far brisker pace. For black women in their mid- to late-30s, the incarceration rate also has hit the one-in-100 mark. In addition, one in every 53 adults in their 20s is behind bars; the rate for those over 55 is one in 837. The report points out the necessity of locking up violent and repeat offenders, but notes that prison growth and higher incarceration rates do not reflect a parallel increase in crime, or a corresponding surge in the nation’s population at large. Instead, more people are behind bars principally because of a wave of policy choices that are sending more lawbreakers to prison and, through popular “three-strikes” measures and other sentencing laws, imposing longer prison stays on inmates. As a result, states’ corrections costs have risen substantially. Twenty years ago, the states collectively spent $10.6 billion of their general funds—their primary discretionary dollars—on corrections. Last year, they spent more than $44 billion in general funds, a 315 percent jump, and more than $49 billion in total funds from all sources. Coupled with tightening state budgets, the greater prison expenditures may force states to make tough choices about where to spend their money. For example, Pew found that over the same 20-year period, inflation-adjusted general fund spending on corrections rose 127 percent while higher education expenditures rose just 21 percent. “States are paying a high cost for corrections—one that may not be buying them as much in public safety as it should. And spending on prisons may be crowding out investments in other valuable programs that could enhance a state’s economic competitiveness,” said Susan K. Urahn, managing director of the Pew Center on the States. “There are other choices. Some state policy makers are experimenting with a range of community punishments that are as effective as incarceration in protecting public safety and allow states to put the brakes on prison growth.” According to Pew, some states are attempting to protect public safety and reap corrections savings primarily by holding lower-risk offenders accountable in less-costly settings and using intermediate sanctions for parolees and probationers who violate conditions of their release. These include a mix of community-based programs such as day reporting centers, treatment facilities, electronic monitoring systems and community service—tactics recently adopted in Kansas and Texas. Another common intervention, used in Kansas and Nevada, is making small reductions in prison terms for inmates who complete substance abuse treatment and other programs designed to cut their risk of recidivism. Pew was assisted in collecting state prison counts by the Association of State Correctional Administrators and the JFA Institute. The report also relies on data published by the U.S. Department of Justice’s Bureau of Justice Statistics, the National Association of State Budget Officers, and the U.S. Census Bureau. To view the entire report, including state-by-state data and methodology, visit the Public Safety Performance Project's web Site. Launched in 2006 as a project of Pew’s Center on the States, the Public Safety Performance Project seeks to help states advance fiscally sound, data-driven policies and practices in sentencing and corrections that protect public safety, hold offenders accountable, and control corrections costs. The Pew Charitable Trusts applies the power of knowledge to solve today’s most challenging problems. Our Center on the States identifies and advances effective policy approaches to critical issues facing states. Online at www.pewcenteronthestates.org.

END Public Safety Performance

The size and cost of America’s prison system has skyrocketed during the last few decades, largely as a result of laws and policies that put more offenders behind bars and keep them there longer. Yet recidivism rates remain stubbornly high, and crime still is a major public concern.

State policy makers across the nation are asking whether soaring prison budgets are the best path to public safety. Increasingly, they are finding the answer is “No.”

Our Challenge

Americans deserve criminal justice policies that keep them safe. They want serious, violent, and chronic criminals put in prison. At the same time, a majority of Americans support cost-effective strategies for dealing with offenders who pose less risk to the community.

Launched in 2006 as an operating project of the Pew Center on the States, the Public Safety Performance Project helps states advance fiscally sound, data-driven sentencing and corrections policies and practices that protect public safety, hold offenders accountable and control costs. The Project currently collaborates with the Pew Center on the States and five external partners to provide expert, nonpartisan information and assistance to 13 states that want a better return on their public safety investments. Learn More.

Our Approach

States have begun to take on the challenge, and the Public Safety Performance Project can help. Rather than engage in the paralyzing debate between punishment and rehabilitation, the Project pursues three non-ideological, nonpartisan objectives:

  1. To help states collect and analyze data on who is admitted to their prisons, how long they stay, who returns, and the implications of these practices for public safety and state budgets
  2. To help states understand how their existing sentencing, release, and community supervision policies, practices, and outcomes compare with those of other states
  3. To encourage states to use the best research available to advance reforms that will reduce crime and recidivism and deliver a solid return on taxpayers’ investments

Our Activities

The Project and its partners lead a range of activities at the state and national level:

  • Promising Practices: The Project is synthesizing information about effective policies and practices, making the strongest research available and easily accessible to policy makers and practitioners across the country through an online database, periodic reports and policy briefs. The Project also identifies particular challenges and approaches and tracks key developments across states.
  • Expert Assistance for States: Select states interested in exploring change receive tailored, in-depth assistance and resources from highly respected, nonpartisan experts. Participating states receive a data-driven analysis of their sentencing and corrections systems, plus a policy audit to identify a range of options, drawing on promising approaches and practices in other states facing similar challenges.
  • Encouraging Cross-State Learning and Collaboration: The Project helps state officials, practitioners, researchers, and others share knowledge and ideas through policy forums, multi-state meetings and national, regional and state-level convenings.
  • Raising Awareness: The Project helps policy makers and the public understand the need, and widespread support, for change through media outreach and education, broad dissemination of information, public opinion assessments and efforts to highlight innovations among states.

Our Partners

The Project works with the Pew Center on the States and five national partners, the Council of State Governments Justice Center, the National Center for State Courts, the National Conference of State Legislatures, the National Governors Association and the Vera Institute of Justice, to provide expert, nonpartisan information and assistance to states. The Project also collaborates with selected governmental, nonprofit and academic partners in the states. Learn More.

Reports

One in 100: Behind Bars in America 2008 Feb 28, 2008 - A new report by Pew's Public Safety Performance Project details how, for the first time in history, more than one in every 100 adults in America are in jail or prison—a fact that significantly impacts state budgets without delivering a clear return on public safety. Read: Summary View: Full Report (Adobe PDF)
Work in the States: Sentencing and Corrections in New Jersey Feb 27, 2008 - The project selected New Jersey to receive intensive, nonpartisan research, analysis, and expertise. Among other factors, its leaders have demonstrated both a bipartisan commitment to explore meaningful policy change and a dedication to collecting and using criminal justice data as a basis for sound reforms. Read: Summary View: Full Report (Adobe PDF)
Work in the States: Sentencing and Corrections in Vermont Feb 27, 2008 - The project selected Vermont to receive intensive, nonpartisan research, analysis, and expertise. Among other factors, its leaders have demonstrated both a bipartisan commitment to explore meaningful policy change and a dedication to collecting and using criminal justice data as a basis for sound reforms. Read: Summary View: Full Report (Adobe PDF)
Work in the States: Sentencing and Corrections in Nevada Feb 27, 2008 - The project selected Nevada to receive intensive, nonpartisan research, analysis, and expertise. Among other factors, its leaders have demonstrated both a bipartisan commitment to explore meaningful policy change and a dedication to collecting and using criminal justice data as a basis for sound reforms. Read: Summary View: Full Report (Adobe PDF)
Sentencing and Corrections Profile: Nevada Feb 27, 2008 - A profile of Nevada that provides statistical and analytical data about its sentencing and corrections systems, describes factors shaping those systems, and highlights opportunities for reform. Read: Summary View: Full Report (Adobe PDF)
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News

Pew in the Media Feb 29, 2008 - Online Discussion on Prison Report
Pew in the Media Feb 28, 2008 - Record-High Ratio of Americans in Prison
Pew in the Media Feb 28, 2008 - 1 in 100 U.S. Adults Behind Bars, New Study Says
Press Release Feb 28, 2008 - Pew Report Finds More than One in 100 Adults are Behind Bars
Press Release Jan 08, 2008 - Vermont’s Prison Population Projected to Grow 23 Percent
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Scribbled by Steven At some point on... Saturday, March 01, 2008

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