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New York Times
LAST month, US state Louisiana passed one of the most ambitious criminal-justice reform packages in the country 10 new laws that make important changes to everything from drug sentences, parole and community supervision to re-entry and victims' rights. It would have been remarkable coming from any state. It's historic coming from Louisiana.
The state, one of the poorest in the country, has long held the dubious distinction of locking up the most people per capita in America. Its incarceration rate is nearly double the national average, and yet 1 in 3 released inmates return to prison within three years.
The reforms, several of which take effect on August 1, are projected to cut the prison population by 10 percent and keep it down, saving Louisiana more than a quarter-billion dollars over the next decade, according to the Pew Charitable Trusts.
Much of that money is slated for programmes that reduce recidivism, support crime victims and make the justice system function better for everyone.
It's encouraging that in a state with a heavily Republican Legislature and a new Democratic governor, John Bel Edwards, who made the package central to his candidacy, the changes passed by overwhelming bipartisan majorities.
Some of the reforms like reduced sentences for low-level drug crimes; expanded opportunities for parole; more alternatives to prison, including greater use of drug courts; and relief for people who can't afford to pay court fines and fees have already been tried successfully in other states, where crime rates and prison populations have both fallen.
Louisiana is also pushing ahead with newer, more controversial fixes, such as increasing leniency for those convicted of some violent crimes, a political fireball even in many far more progressive states. The bulk of the expected savings from the reforms more than $180 million will go to services for people leaving prison, helping victims and tracking the laws' outcomes.
In all, it's a big step forward for a state that has suffered almost every criminal-justice pathology there is. It's also a rebuke to Attorney General Jeff Sessions and his retrograde mindset on criminal justice, which clings to the notion that locking more people up for more time is the best way to deal with crime.
Louisiana is following a growing number of states in applying an empirical, data-based approach. A politically diverse coalition of Louisianans understood that the state would see the benefits of reduced prison populations and increased public safety. And in the end their support made the reforms' passage possible.
