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States continuing to consider prisoner release to deal with budget woes

By Douglas A. Berman

The economic realities of mass incarceration continue to impact state budgets and political debates, as evidenced today by this local feature out of Illinois headlined "Quinn's plan to release prisoners stirs debate." Here are the basics: There are still a lot of questions about Gov. Pat Quinn's plan to release about 1,000 prisoners to ease overcrowding and help with the state's budget crisis.  Prison reform advocates have been saying it for many years: that states could save billions of dollars by treating instead of incarcerating drug users.  The message is finally hitting home in deficit-ravaged Illinois where the administration of Gov. Pat Quinn plans an early release for 1,000 state prison inmates.... Chicago Police Superintendent Jody Weis wishes there was no need for an early release program...continue to full post

Full post as published by Sentencing Law and Policy on September 22, 2009 (boomark / email).