Are Republicans the New Heroes on Prison Reform?

[Valin]

Via Meadia:

6/21/13

 

Republican politicians across the country are agitating for prison reform, according to a *piece in the WSJ. Faced with overcrowded prisons, pressure from Evangelical Christians, and data pointing to the vicious crime cycles prisons encourage, GOP leaders are taking up reforms aimed at reducing the length of sentences and promoting rehabilitation:

 

Just over half of the states have embarked on criminal-justice overhauls of varying scope over the past five years, with 19 of those efforts led by Republican governors or GOP legislatures and nine by Democratic governors or legislatures. Some of the most aggressive moves have come in states, many in the South, with incarceration rates well above the national average. [...]

 

The initiatives have drawn praise from groups that arent often allied with the GOP, including the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and the American Civil Liberties Union. The result is some unlikely bedfellows, with the conservative American Legislative Exchange Council working alongside the ACLU.

(Snip)

 

If this reform push by the GOP is serious, its good news for two reasons. First, it will generate significant momentum towards reducing the iniquities of our current system. The policies that are being pursued by different states are too various to take a position on as a whole: some are likely sensible, others not. In general, we prefer reforms that focus on less draconian sentences for drug use and policies that seek to penalize lawbreakers without necessarily sticking them in prison.

 

Second, its a sign that the GOP is still evolving in productive ways......(snip)

 

 

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