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: The Real Cost of Prisons Weblog

NH: Justice system overhaul: Bill's goal is to save money, reduce prison recidivism

By Real Cost of Prisons Project (The Sentencing Project)

"Some of these violations are a new crime entirely, but many are technical in nature," he said. "We've never had the flexibility of having intermediate sentences for parole violations, it's been easy to do it the old way, without thinking about the cost." Another harsh reality that needed to be acknowledged is that many parolees reoffend because they have some sort of substance abuse or mental problem and can't get the proper treatment in prison because of a lack of resources, according to Broderick. Of the 160 women incarcerated at the women's prison in Goffstown, 70 percent have some sort of mental health or substance abuse problem, he said. "It's not a coincidence that people with these issues are behind bars," he said. "We had to ask ourselves how can we ensure them better success when they leave prison? We can pretend there's no problem or pretend that being incarcerated would solve all their mental health or substance abuse problems, or we can do something about it...continue to full post

Full post as published by The Real Cost of Prisons Weblog on May 19, 2010 (boomark / email).