A mother holds her child's hand in jail
A new report from the Brennan Center for Justice at NYU's School of Law shows that New Jersey, New York, California, and South Carolina have all had big reductions in incarceration rates and their crime rates—concurrently.
California: Once a leader in punitive criminal justice policy, California is at the forefront of the movement to safely and efficiently reduce incarceration. Between 2006 and 2012, California reduced its prison population by 23 percent as violent crime fell by 21 percent and property crime by 13 percent. California’s “realignment” legislation, passed in 2011 in response to a prison overcrowding case it lost at the Supreme Court, did more than just shift inmates from state prisons to county jails. Building off of earlier legislation, it reformed parole and probation to reduce incarceration for violations, and facilitated the earlier release of inmates serving time in county jails. From 2011 to 2014, crime in California fell 7 percent while the state reduced incarceration by nine percent.
New Jersey: Over the last decade and a half New Jersey has reduced its prison population by 26 percent, as violent and property crime declined by 30 and 31 percent, respectively. New Jersey safely downsized its prison population by enhancing the efficiency of its parole process and increasing flexibility in the sentencing of low-level drug offenders. From 2011 to 2014, crime in New Jersey fell 20 percent while incarceration fell 9.5 percent.
New York: In the last decade and a half, New York’s prison population has fallen dramatically — 28 percent since 1999 — while property crime fell 28 percent and violent crime declined by 31 percent. In 2009, the state eliminated mandatory sentences for some drug offenses.57 The state also increased judicial discretion for referrals to drug courts, introduced robust diversionary programs, and decreased numbers of felony arrests. From 2011 to 2014, New York experienced an 11 percent drop in crime with an associated 5 percent reduction in incarceration.
South Carolina: Since 2009, South Carolina has seen the same virtuous combination — a decrease in its prison population of 14 percent along with a 28 percent decline in violent crime and a 9 percent decline in property crime. In 2010, the state ended mandatory minimums for drug possession and expanded prison alternatives and parole eligibility. From 2011-14, crime fell 14 percent while the state reduced incarceration by 6 percent.
How can that be? I thought the whole point of fighting fire with fire and mass incarceration is to make sure that all of these
monsters are off the streets! That and making lots of fire!