Thinking About Corrections : Corrections Costs

More Thinking Regarding Fiscal Woes

Eileen Conway — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 17:48:00 GMT

Looking at a specific option to help reduce the cost of corrections in an era of historic budget cuts, the National Conference of State Legislatures has published Cutting Corrections Costs: Earned Time Policies for State Prisoners. The report reviews the concept of earned time, how it relates to public safety ond costs, and recent earned time policy expansions. Its use in Washington, Kansas, and Pennsylvania is highlighted, and a survey of state policies is included as an appendix.

Examining the Fiscal Crisis in Corrections

Eileen Conway — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 20:29:00 GMT

As states struggle with rapidly shrinking budgets, correctional policies are coming into the spotlight and correctional budgets are no longer immune to cuts. In a timely report, the Vera Institute has just released The Fiscal Crisis in Corrections: Rethinking Policies and Practices, which "examines the form of these cuts, including reductions in operational costs, reforms in release policy, and strategies for reducing recidivism, and it highlights some of the innovations that states are pursuing for long-term savings while also maintaining public safety."

One in 11 Prisoners Serving Life Sentences

jgustfsn — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 19:41:00 GMT

A new report released by The Sentencing Project finds a record 140,610 individuals are now serving life sentences in state and federal prisons, 6,807 of whom were juveniles at the time of the crime. In addition, 29% of persons serving a life sentence (41,095) have no possibility of parole, and 1,755 were juveniles at the time of the crime. No Exit: The Expanding Use of Life Sentences in America represents the first nationwide collection of life sentence data documenting race, ethnicity and gender.

Looking Forward to Monday

Eileen Conway — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 15:55:00 GMT

At 11 EST, Monday, March 2, 2009, the Pew Center on the States will release a report that promises to "provide first 50-state comparison of corrections populations and costs." Here is part of what Pew says to anticipate about this report:

"A report from the Pew Center on the States, to be released Monday, March 2, looks across the 50 states to detail the size and growth of both the prison population and offenders under probation or parole supervision in the community. The report, a follow-up to last year’s One in 100: Behind Bars in America 2008, also provides the first state-by-state trend data on what states spend on prisons versus community corrections.

As states struggle to find ways to further stretch their budgets, the Pew report analyzes innovative solutions that can reduce recidivism and cut corrections costs, and highlights states that are devising effective strategies."

The full press release is available here. Watch this space for details following release.

State Sentencing and Corrections Legislation

CC Pro — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 21:17:00 GMT

The National Conference of State Legislatures has published a report that examines state legislative actions during 2007, the elements that drove these actions, and the potential impact of sentencing and corrections in the near term. Principal legislative concerns were/are burgeoning prison populations and the accompanying budget growth. Measures passed to address prison construction and operating costs, reducing recidivism, and increasing the efficacy of correctional systems without compromising public safety include:

Expanding community corrections;
Managing probation and parole violators;
Boosting incentives for good behavior;
Preparing inmates for reentry; and
Linking released offenders to community support.

Examining the Incarceration Policy/Funding Bind

Eileen Conway — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 17:56:00 GMT

The Pew Center on the States has released a new report examining how states are coping with burgeoning prison populations and whether public safety is effectively being purchased with high incarceration costs. In One in 100: Behind Bars in America 2008, Pew reviews the varying state trends in prison growth, costs associated with them, and efforts to forge new directions in controlling crime and costs.