The Quiet Comeback of Early Release
Parole seems to be making a comeback. Although it was a universal feature of the American criminal justice system as recently as forty years ago, parole fell into precipitous decline over the final three decades of the twentieth century. By 2000, fifteen states and the federal government had abolished parole altogether, while twenty additional states had formally restricted its availability. Since 2000, however, many states have enhanced release opportunities for prison inmates (although some still resist the “parole” label for their new programs).
For an article I am working on, I have been collecting information about the states in the latter category. I count twenty-eight. What I have so far appears in a table after the jump.