Post by Were 1 on Mar 19, 2010 12:48:09 GMT -5
For the first time since 1972, the number of inmates in state prisons in the U.S. has dropped. No thanks to Indiana.
Last year, the prison population dipped in 27 states, and a new report to be released today says that drove an overall decrease of 0.4 percent.
But in Indiana, the prison population last year swelled by 5.3 percent, the largest percentage increase of any state in the nation.
What's different about Indiana? Prison officials and experts say many other states have more aggressively reformed sentencing and pursued alternatives to prison incarceration -- often under pressure to slash gargantuan prison budgets, especially during the recession.
"When you're in the number one spot, it says that something is out of whack," said Adam Gelb, director of the Pew Center's Public Safety Performance Project, which conducted the study.
"It does cry out for a deeper look at why Indiana is leading the nation in growth," he said, "and what strategies could be employed to bend the curve, while continuing to protect public safety."
One factor that drives incarceration in Indiana is get-tough sentence enhancements, which even some legislators agree have snowballed to fill Indiana's adult male prisons nearly to capacity.
"They've created a time bomb over the last 10 to 20 years," said Larry Landis, executive director of the Indiana Public Defender Council. "Our problem is that we're addicted to incarceration."
Indiana's violent crime rate dropped by a third from 1994 to 2007, but the state's prison population grew more than 4 percent a year during the 2000s, according to the federal Bureau of Justice Statistics.
Indiana Department of Correction projections forecast a nearly 25 percent increase in its inmate population through 2015, when the inmate population could top 36,000.
The Pew study pegged it at just less than 30,000, adults and juveniles, at the start of this year.
That steady growth was at the center of a debate last year that resulted in the cash-strapped Indiana General Assembly rejecting a request for $40 million to add more than 1,000 maximum-security beds.
The state now seems poised to seek a new path, and Landis and others sense Indiana is on the verge of progress.
Last year, the General Assembly created the Criminal Code Evaluation Commission and charged it with issuing recommendations in 2011 on changes to the Indiana Penal Code, last updated in 1977. They will consider factors including redundancy and appropriateness of sentencing classes assigned to different crimes.
In January, leaders from all three branches of Indiana's government sent a letter requesting that the Pew Center take a close look at how Indiana might reduce recidivism and safely manage prison population growth.
Gov. Mitch Daniels, Attorney General Greg Zoeller, House Speaker B. Patrick Bauer, Senate President Pro Tempore David Long and Indiana Supreme Court Chief Justice Randall Shepard signed the letter.
Many states have tackled the issue directly, often with the Pew Center's guidance.
Gelb said the Pew Center would respond to the Indiana officials' request for analysis after a site visit next month.
Each of Indiana's neighbors reported prison population decreases last year -- with Michigan's falling 6.7 percent.
The study says Michigan has shed 6,000 inmates in three years by allowing more to be released once they have served their minimum sentences, revoking parole less often and overhauling re-entry programs.
Other states have experimented with similar efforts, including Indiana.
DOC officials here cited an effort to provide alternative penalties for technical violations of parole, such as missed office visits or "dirty" urine test results, rather than a return to prison. And counties have expanded community corrections programs for lower-level offenders that include work release and home detention.
The recession has led some states to release prisoners early to reduce budgets, but the Pew report says recent economic pressures alone don't account for the population declines.
Indiana has avoided early releases and found other ways to cope with budget shortfalls. It has trimmed $15 million from this year's $678 million DOC budget, which makes up about 5 percent of the state's general fund budget, a lower proportion than in many states.
We've taken a lot of painful steps budget-wise to make sure we can take in more prisoners without more costs to Hoosiers," DOC Commissioner Ed Buss said -- and without the "gimmicky" measures he says some states have used to cut population.
The Pew Center's study, "Prison Count 2010," says there were 1.4 million prisoners in state prisons at the end of 2009. Though the population in state prisons decreased, overall, the nation's prison population increased slightly last year because of a 3.4 percent increase in the federal system, which houses 208,000 inmates.
The Pew report was met with skepticism from some Tuesday.
Judge Lance Hamner, a former Johnson County prosecutor and a member of the Criminal Code Evaluation Commission, said he wasn't sure of the importance of Indiana's top ranking without knowing more about the factors behind it.
But Sen. Luke Kenley, R-Noblesville, said he welcomed proposals for ways to slow the growth. The Indiana Constitution's mandate to rehabilitate prisoners has received short shrift, he said, and at huge expense.
"We seem to have a continuing rise in the incarceration rate, and we also seem to have a fixation on increasing penalties in the legislature," Kenley said. "And some judges seem to have the mentality that you need to put (criminals) in prison longer.
"It's sort of a mind-set we have -- Hoosiers would rather be safe than sorry."
Last year, the prison population dipped in 27 states, and a new report to be released today says that drove an overall decrease of 0.4 percent.
But in Indiana, the prison population last year swelled by 5.3 percent, the largest percentage increase of any state in the nation.
What's different about Indiana? Prison officials and experts say many other states have more aggressively reformed sentencing and pursued alternatives to prison incarceration -- often under pressure to slash gargantuan prison budgets, especially during the recession.
"When you're in the number one spot, it says that something is out of whack," said Adam Gelb, director of the Pew Center's Public Safety Performance Project, which conducted the study.
"It does cry out for a deeper look at why Indiana is leading the nation in growth," he said, "and what strategies could be employed to bend the curve, while continuing to protect public safety."
One factor that drives incarceration in Indiana is get-tough sentence enhancements, which even some legislators agree have snowballed to fill Indiana's adult male prisons nearly to capacity.
"They've created a time bomb over the last 10 to 20 years," said Larry Landis, executive director of the Indiana Public Defender Council. "Our problem is that we're addicted to incarceration."
Indiana's violent crime rate dropped by a third from 1994 to 2007, but the state's prison population grew more than 4 percent a year during the 2000s, according to the federal Bureau of Justice Statistics.
Indiana Department of Correction projections forecast a nearly 25 percent increase in its inmate population through 2015, when the inmate population could top 36,000.
The Pew study pegged it at just less than 30,000, adults and juveniles, at the start of this year.
That steady growth was at the center of a debate last year that resulted in the cash-strapped Indiana General Assembly rejecting a request for $40 million to add more than 1,000 maximum-security beds.
The state now seems poised to seek a new path, and Landis and others sense Indiana is on the verge of progress.
Last year, the General Assembly created the Criminal Code Evaluation Commission and charged it with issuing recommendations in 2011 on changes to the Indiana Penal Code, last updated in 1977. They will consider factors including redundancy and appropriateness of sentencing classes assigned to different crimes.
In January, leaders from all three branches of Indiana's government sent a letter requesting that the Pew Center take a close look at how Indiana might reduce recidivism and safely manage prison population growth.
Gov. Mitch Daniels, Attorney General Greg Zoeller, House Speaker B. Patrick Bauer, Senate President Pro Tempore David Long and Indiana Supreme Court Chief Justice Randall Shepard signed the letter.
Many states have tackled the issue directly, often with the Pew Center's guidance.
Gelb said the Pew Center would respond to the Indiana officials' request for analysis after a site visit next month.
Each of Indiana's neighbors reported prison population decreases last year -- with Michigan's falling 6.7 percent.
The study says Michigan has shed 6,000 inmates in three years by allowing more to be released once they have served their minimum sentences, revoking parole less often and overhauling re-entry programs.
Other states have experimented with similar efforts, including Indiana.
DOC officials here cited an effort to provide alternative penalties for technical violations of parole, such as missed office visits or "dirty" urine test results, rather than a return to prison. And counties have expanded community corrections programs for lower-level offenders that include work release and home detention.
The recession has led some states to release prisoners early to reduce budgets, but the Pew report says recent economic pressures alone don't account for the population declines.
Indiana has avoided early releases and found other ways to cope with budget shortfalls. It has trimmed $15 million from this year's $678 million DOC budget, which makes up about 5 percent of the state's general fund budget, a lower proportion than in many states.
We've taken a lot of painful steps budget-wise to make sure we can take in more prisoners without more costs to Hoosiers," DOC Commissioner Ed Buss said -- and without the "gimmicky" measures he says some states have used to cut population.
The Pew Center's study, "Prison Count 2010," says there were 1.4 million prisoners in state prisons at the end of 2009. Though the population in state prisons decreased, overall, the nation's prison population increased slightly last year because of a 3.4 percent increase in the federal system, which houses 208,000 inmates.
The Pew report was met with skepticism from some Tuesday.
Judge Lance Hamner, a former Johnson County prosecutor and a member of the Criminal Code Evaluation Commission, said he wasn't sure of the importance of Indiana's top ranking without knowing more about the factors behind it.
But Sen. Luke Kenley, R-Noblesville, said he welcomed proposals for ways to slow the growth. The Indiana Constitution's mandate to rehabilitate prisoners has received short shrift, he said, and at huge expense.
"We seem to have a continuing rise in the incarceration rate, and we also seem to have a fixation on increasing penalties in the legislature," Kenley said. "And some judges seem to have the mentality that you need to put (criminals) in prison longer.
"It's sort of a mind-set we have -- Hoosiers would rather be safe than sorry."