The Early-Release Renaissance: Reflections and a Legislative Update
As I indicated in an earlier post, I’ve been collecting information on new legislation around the country that expands early-release opportunities for prison inmates. By my count, we are now up to at least 36 states with such legislation in the past decade. These legislative initiatives, along with other factors, have probably contributed to the recent (modest) decrease in the number of inmates in state prisons. Does this reflect a durable change in attitudes towards crime and punishment, or is this about short-term fiscal pressures and the need to reduce bloated corrections budgets? Probably a little of both.