Horowitz: Whitehouse Leads the Way on National Prison Reform

Tuesday, February 17, 2015

Rob Horowitz, GoLocalWorcester MINDSETTER™

Rob Horowitz

Hoping to capitalize on the growing bi-partisan support for a more sensible and cost-effective approach to prison sentences, Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), together with Senator John Cornyn R-TX), last week announced their plans to introduce legislation that aims to both reduce recidivism and federal corrections expenditures.

The legislation would require prisoners deemed at lower-risk for committing new crimes to participate in recidivism reduction programs that if completed successfully would substantially shorten the length of time spent in prison.. In developing new programs to ensure that prisoners are ready to successfully re-enter society after their sentence is completed, the Bureau of Prisons is mandated to partner with faith-based groups and non-profits. Violent offenders are excluded from this legislation, which major provisions are similar to a bill sponsored by the two Senators in the last Congress that passed the Senate Judiciary Committee by a 15 to 2.

Senator Whitehouse said, “Our bill is built on the simple premise that when inmates are better prepared to re-enter communities, they are less likely to commit crimes after they are released – and that is in all of our interests.”

As Senators Whitehouse and Cornyn pointed out, this reform legislation builds on the impressive results achieved from implementing prison reforms by states such as Texas, Kentucky and Rhode Island.. Texas in particular, mainly under the leadership of former Republican Governor Rick Perry, provides a prime example of what is possible. A comprehensive set of changes have led to reduced prison populations, easier pathways for felons to re-enter society, and a focus on treatment over enforcement on some drug crimes, saving the state billions of dollars.

This legislation, if adopted, will work hand in hand with the major policy change instituted in 2013 by Attorney General Eric Holder, exempting low level drug offenders with no ties to gangs or cartels and without substantial criminal records from ‘draconian mandatory minimum sentences.” Both measures aim to reduce an exploding federal prison population, which according to Senator Whitehouse, has grown from around 24,000 inmates in 1980 to over 210,000 today. Spending on the federal Bureau of Prisons more than doubled over the last 15 years, rising to nearly $7 billion.

The favorable political climate for the Whitehouse/Cornyn legislation and other prison reform initiatives stems mainly from a steadily decreasing crime rate. In the long-run the ability to sensibly reduce our prison population is tied to effective law enforcement strategies that work to curtail violent crime, the availability of quality alternatives to prison for non-violent offenders and a stronger emphasis on reentry programs for when prisoners return to society.

This well-constructed legislation is an important step in the right direction. The combination of its bi-partisan sponsorship and expanding support for these kinds of reforms that cuts across party lines, gives it an excellent prospect of becoming the law of the land.

Rob Horowitz is a strategic and communications consultant who provides general consulting, public relations, direct mail services and polling for national and state issue organizations, various non-profits and elected officials and candidates. He is an Adjunct Professor of Political Science at the University of Rhode Island.

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Horowitz: Whitehouse Leads the Way on National Prison Reform

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