Legal Commentary

Georgia to Rethink Incarcerating Non-Violent Drug Offenders

By Jeralyn

Republican Governor Nathan Deal was sworn into office in Georgia today. Addressing budget issues, he said:

"Presently, one out of every 13 Georgia residents is under some form of correctional control," Gov. Nathan Deal, a Republican, told state lawmakers during his inaugural address. "It cost about $3 million per day to operate our Department of Corrections. And yet, every day criminals continue to inflict violence on our citizens and an alarming number of perpetrators are juveniles."

From his inaugural speech: [More..]

“For violent and repeat offenders, we will make you pay for your crimes. For other offenders who want to change their lives, we will provide the opportunity to do so with Day Reporting Centers, Drug, DUI and Mental Health Courts and expanded probation and treatment options. As a State, we cannot afford to have so many of our citizens waste their lives because of addictions. It is draining our State Treasury and depleting our workforce…

Some national statistics are assembled here. Georgia isn't the only state beginning to recognize the war on drugs is a costly failure. Many state legislators are also proposing changes (here's one in New Jersey.)

Here's the 2010 Bureau of Justice Statistics report on incarcerated prisoners in the U.S. (Analysis here.) We also need to support Attorney General Eric Holder's Prisoner Re-Entry Task Force.

Full post as published by TalkLeft on January 11, 2011 (boomark / email).