Tough Sentencing Harder on Budgets than on Crime

Preceding a talk to the Kentucky Bar Association, Marc Mauer published an op-ed column in the Lexington Herald-Leader about Kentucky’s – and several other states – move to adopt policies promoting alternatives to incarceration. Mauer wrote, “Indeed, governors across the nation are finding that prison expansion in the midst of an economic crisis is not sustainable, since it cuts into funding for higher education and other vital services.  The fiscal crisis, though, offers an opportunity to get beyond the ‘tough on crime’ rhetoric that has shaped criminal-justice policy and to promote bipartisan initiatives that are both fiscally responsible and enhance public safety. If prison growth is to be brought under control, three areas of policy are critical for success: sentencing reform, prisoner re-entry and reducing parole revocations.”