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"Shrinking Pa.'s prison population: New Jersey and a few other states have shown the way"

By Douglas A. Berman

The title of this post is the headline of this op-ed in today's Philadelphia Inquirer authored by Marc Mauer and Judith Greene. Here are excerpts: A new report by the Pew Center on the States shows that while the national prison population declined last year for the first time in 38 years, Pennsylvania's number of inmates increased more than any other state's. Unless policymakers address the factors contributing to these figures, the state risks continued high incarceration costs, which will come at the expense of education and other services. Especially given the serious fiscal challenges facing the states, gaining control of the prison population is a critical issue for policymakers. Fortunately, recent developments in a few states offer a road map for producing sustained declines in prison populations...continue to full post

Full post as published by Sentencing Law and Policy on March 25, 2010 (boomark / email).