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| Taking the train to reform station |
| By Sarah Etter, News Reporter |
| Published: 04/02/2007 |
The image of two trains traveling in opposite directions might not be the first picture you imagine when thinking about corrections. But according to the Sentencing Projects' latest report, Changing Direction?: Sentencing Reform 2004-2006, that image is an apt analogy for the industry's current state of affairs. The report is a state-by-state examination of new sentencing policies created as a result of overcrowding and tightening budgets.
“We're going in two different directions right now. There are lots of positive sentencing reforms, but on the flip side harsh legislation is still being introduced for sex offenders,” says Ryan S. King, author of the report and Sentencing Project policy analyst. “We are operating on two incongruous pathways. We're split into two camps; either you want to reduce the prison population or you want to put more people in prison. These two camps need to have a conversation.” The non-profit criminal justice research organization hopes to initiate that dialogue with the release of Changing Direction. And one look at the report shows that diversion programs were definitely in this year. “The most common reform undertaken by states to address population pressures in correctional systems was the expansion of options and funding for drug treatment,” the report states. “These reforms were often accompanied by a mandate to divert non-violent drug offenders from incarceration. At least 13 states passed legislation that either expanded the availability of existing treatment and diversion sentencing options or established new pathways for judges to employ alternatives to incarceration.” Another trend involved reworking parole policies. Some states established new criteria for revocation of parole, or awarded field officers more discretion in deciding who returns to prison. Although there is progress being made in parole, King says more work remains. “Despite the re-entry buzz, very little is being done on the back end,” he says. “Everyone sees the front end problem, but a lot of states are really dealing with the parole system as a big part of the prison growth. This part is known as churning, which is when an offender has their parole revoked, even for a minor offense, and cycles in and out of the system repeatedly.” Connecticut and Oregon topped the list of forward-thinking states when it came to all-inclusive, innovative reforms. “Connecticut has a really common sense plan in place,” King explains. “They have a comprehensive overview of addressing the prison population. The bill they introduced was to reduce overcrowding. But they viewed the problem from the angle of people coming in, people staying in, and then people having their parole revoked. Their bill offers provisions for the front end and the back end of the system.” He also says this wide-ranging approach is practical when it comes to prisoners. “Any kind of policy the state is going to implement that leads to sustainable reduction of the prison population must take a Connecticut-type of approach. You cannot just divert low-level drug offenders and think the problem will go away. California is a great example of that; the prison population has increased substantially with Prop 36 (http://www.prop36.org/). So you can't just attack something from one angle; you have to come at it from a bunch of different angles.” Oregon officials have passed a bill that requires judges to review a pre-sentence report that analyzes the impact of a harsh sentence on future offenses. “The Oregon efforts bring recidivism and future offenses into consideration which is so important,” King says. “Even when someone is coming into the court system, we should be thinking about their re-entry into society five years later. New York passed a similar bill that acknowledges this issue, and I hope that line of thinking continues.” The high cost of incarceration is one reason so many states are taking up a focus on reform. “The cost of incarceration is the catalyst for this movement. But the accrued knowledge base we have about the alternatives to incarceration and innovative court sentencing is why we're seeing these changes,” he explains. “Without having these alternatives documented as effective, they wouldn't be considered.” As Oregon and Connecticut set the pace for new ways to view sentencing, states across the country continue to modify their policies and procedures to lessen the incarceration population, reduce costs and highlight treatment, but sex offenders are still seeing harsher penalties. The report also offers recommendations, such as expanding drug treatment, reducing parole revocation, repealing mandatory minimum sentencing, and reconsidering life and long-term sentences. Only time will tell how these recommendations and reforms will pan out. But King believes it is important to focus on the progress being made. “We are hoping this will build and we can take the lessons that we've learned and use them to approach these issues on a broader scale,” he says. “It's really important that states get the chance to see this in the big picture and learn from each other.” |
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