From The Hill:
Over the years, states have used evidence-based reforms to improve public safety, control taxpayer costs, and safely reduce prison populations. These efforts exploded on the national scene when we began our Texas justice reform effort in 2005. Texas legislators, including myself, were given a difficult directive: don’t build new prisons, they cost too much. As conservatives, we had the responsibility to achieve the highest return on investment for public safety spending while reining in unnecessary government.
Despite an anticipated increase of 17,000 people in the prison population in the next five years, we were determined to avoid building new prisons. We had a great deal of data on criminal justice, which really helped an engineer like me look at viable alternatives.
Based on the data, the options were clear: either swing open the doors and let people out of prison without rehabilitation or treatment, or reduce the number of people going to prison. Continue reading >>>
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