Corrections and Sentencing

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State legislatures have an important role in enacting sentencing and corrections policies that manage prison populations and costs, address offender and community needs, and contribute to the safe and fair administration of criminal justice. This includes considering offenders who might be appropriate for community-based supervision and treatment; providing alternatives to incarceration for probationers and parolees who break the rules; better preparing offenders for release and reentry into the community; and other ways of reducing reliance on and growth in spending for prisons without compromising public safety. 

Prisons are necessary to incapacitate the most serious offenders. But prisons are also expensive, with about $9 out of every $10 spent on corrections going to state prisons. These high and increasingly unsustainable costs of prisons, coupled with the fact that more than four in 10 offenders will be back in prison within three years of release, has prompted many states to rethink how they operate their sentencing and corrections systems.

Announcing - a new NCSL Justice Reinvestment resource page and interviews with experts on State Assistance with Justice Reinvestment Reforms.

"Principles of Effective State Sentencing and Corrections Policy" is the product of a bipartisan NCSL work group, in partnership with the Public Safety Performance Project of the Pew Center on the States, released at the 2011 NCSL Legislative Summit.

It provides overarching principles for legislatures to use in addressing sentencing and corrections policies and identifies state strategies and examples, including:

• Determining criminal sentences;
• Managing offenders in the community;
• Treating drug offenders;
• Using data and evidence;
• Preventing crime and reducing recidivism.

Watch members of the work group discuss the principles at work in their own states that have improved public safety, reduced recidivism and controlled corrections cost.

Recent Webinars

• Recidivism Reduction and Justice Reinvestment, December 14, 2011
• Results and Evidence in Criminal Justice: Tools and Resources, May 3, 2012

Other key NCSL products and resources:

• E-Bulletin: Sentencing and Corrections Policy Updates. This quarterly newsletter provides periodic updates on state sentencing and corrections legislation and budgets; highlights innovative policies and programs; and connects you with reports and news of upcoming NCSL events.
• Sentencing and Corrections Legislation Database. Allows you to search recent enacted legislation by state, topic, keyword, year or primary sponsor.

 Other topics and resources:

• Community Corrections and Costs
• Drug Policy
• Reentry and Recidivism

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