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MA: "Reform is Needed" letter by Barbara Dougan of FAMM

By Real Cost of Prisons Project (The Sentencing Project)

Letters to the Editor - The Boston Globe Reform is needed November 23, 2008 "PRISON TO double-bunk inmates" highlights the urgent need for sentencing reform in Massachusetts. Our prisons are bursting, due in large part to costly and inflexible mandatory minimum sentences for drug offenses. Almost 17 percent of state prisoners are serving a mandatory sentence, a 32 percent increase over the past 10 years. Many are serving these harsh sentences for first-time, nonviolent offenses. These prisoners are also ineligible for parole or participation in work-release programs, which are key tools to relieve prison overcrowding. Massachusetts currently spends, on average, about $48,000 per year on each state prisoner. Building new prisons is costly too - about $1 million for each new prison bed...continue to full post

Full post as published by The Real Cost of Prisons Weblog on November 23, 2008 (boomark / email).