Reforming Sentencing and Corrections Policy: The Experience of Justice Reinvestment Initiative States, Executive Summary

• Published in: Federal sentencing reporter 2017-02, Vol.29 (2/3), p.175-178
• Main Authors: HARVELL, SAMANTHA, WELSH-LOVEMAN, JEREMY, LOVE, HANNA, DURNAN, JULIA, EISENSTAT, JOSH, GOLIAN, LAURA, MOHR, EDDIE, PELLETIER, ELIZABETH, SAMUELS, JULIE, THOMSON, CHELSEA, ULLE, MARGARET, LA VIGNE, NANCY
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Criminal justice; Imprisonment; PRIMARY MATERIALS; Recidivism
• ISSN: 1053-9867; 1533-8363
• DOI: 10.1525/fsr.2017.29.2-3.175

After four decades of soaring prison growth and stubbornly high recidivism rates, the US is rethinking its heavy reliance on incarceration. Individual states, recognizing that the fiscal and human costs of widespread imprisonment largely outweigh its public safety benefits, are leading this shift. Many state leaders are embracing a fresh approach to corrections guided by data and anchored in evidence about what truly works to change criminal behavior. Tough-on-crime rhetoric is being eclipsed by calls for a more data-driven criminal justice system that delivers increased public safety at a lower cost. The Justice Reinvestment Initiative (JRI) is a response to these calls and has been a strong catalyst for state reform. A public-private partnership between the Bureau of Justice Assistance and The Pew Charitable Trusts, JRI was formally launched in 2010 to help states fully understand their unique correctional trends and adopt policies and practices to better manage their corrections populations. Here, Harvell et al discuss the findings presented in the Justice Reinvestment Initiative State Assessment Report released in Jan 2014 and detail what has happened in the 28 states that engaged in the JRI process between 2010 and 2016.