Home -> Law Blog Directory -> Criminal Law Blogs -> The Real Cost of Prisons Weblog

Criminal Law

: The Real Cost of Prisons Weblog

KY: Study Blames Repeat "Offender" Law for Overcrowded Prisons

By Real Cost of Prisons Project (The Sentencing Project)

Study blames Ky. law for overcrowded prisons November 17, 2008 @ 07:30 PM 2008/The Herald-Dispatch LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) ? Kentucky?s repeat offender law shoulders much of the blame for overcrowded prisons, according to a new study by the man who wrote the state?s penal code. The report by University of Kentucky professor Robert Lawson called the state?s repeat offender law ?draconian? because, unlike in most other states, it is not limited to violent or serious crimes. He said the law originally was reserved for the worst criminals, but legislators have extended it so much over the years that it has ?pushed the state?s corrections budget off the charts.? Earlier this year, lawmakers authorized releasing some prison inmates early as a cost-saving measure aimed at relieving some of the mounting financial pressure Kentucky?s prison system is putting on an already cash-strapped budget...continue to full post

Full post as published by The Real Cost of Prisons Weblog on November 18, 2008 (boomark / email).