Resources

Core Documents

Justice Reinvestment Overview (.pdf)
Report: The National Summit on Justice Reinvestment and Public Safety: Addressing Recidivism, Crime, and Corrections Spending

State Documents

Media Coverage – State

Media Coverage – National

02/8/2011 – Wall Street Journal: “States Seek Prison Breaks,” by Gary Fields and Nathan Koppel

“States seeking to save money are beefing up probation and parole programs to reduce the number of prison inmates, as well as pushing rehabilitation over jail for low-level drug crimes. The effort comes from governors of both parties and could stall decades of tough-on-crime policies that saw state-prison populations boom.”

01/17/2011 – New York Times: “Indiana’s Answer to Prison Costs,” Editorial

“The centerpiece of Mr. Daniels’s approach is a set of reforms governing sentencing and parole. Judges would be allowed to fit sentences to crimes and have the flexibility to impose shorter sentences for nonviolent offenses. A poorly structured parole system would be reorganized to focus on offenders who actually present a risk to public safety.”

05/11/2009 – The New York Times: “Shrinking Prison Populations,” Editorial

“Congress does not have to look far for proven programs. New prison sentencing and re-entry policies are already taking hold in several states, thanks in part to work by the Council of State Governments’ prison policy arm, the Justice Center, with the support of the Pew Charitable Trust’s Center on the States.”

05/17/2008 – The New York Times: “New Tack on Straying Parolees Offers a Hand Instead of Cuffs,” by Erik Eckholm

“Today, Kansas is a leader in a spreading national effort to make parole more effective and useful — to reduce violations and reincarcerations as it protects the public and seeks to help more offenders go straight.”

7/2/2007 – The New York Times: “A Much-Needed Second Chance,” Editorial

“Congress needs to pass the Second Chance Act, which would provide grants, guidance and assistance to states and localities that are developing programs to reintegrate former inmates into their communities.”

6/18/2007 – Stateline.org: “States Seek Alternatives to More Prisons,” by John Gramlich

“With swelling prison populations cutting into state budgets, lawmakers are exploring ways to ease overcrowding beyond building expensive new correctional facilities.”