DECARCERATION: Reducing Indiana’s Prison Population
Between 1972 and 2009, the U.S. prison population grew by almost 700%. By 2009, there were more than 2 million people being held in prisons across the country. But every year since then, the population has reduced by 1% every year, and by 2024, the prison population was down to around 1.25 million.
It’s still a lot. But at least now, people are realizing that we have an overabundance of lifers in our prisons and too many with insanely long sentences that are wasting taxpayer money and robbing reformed people of any chance of experiencing a renewed life.
FYI: the population drop isn’t across the board. Only nine states are actually responsible for the overall reduction in the prison population. Alaska has effected a 42.9% reduction, New Jersey, 40.9%; New York, 40.4%; Connecticut, 39.2%; Alabama, 34.5%; Rhode Island and Vermont reduced by 34%; Hawaii by 31% and California by 29.6%.
How did they achieve this? According to the Sentencing Project, 29 states, including the nine mentioned earlier, enacted reforms to reduce mandatory minimum sentencing requirements. Policymakers increasingly supported initiatives like reducing parole revocations, establishing treatment courts for drug offenders, and developing alternative incarceration options for nonviolent offenders.
Other states have implemented a variety of educational and vocational programs. New Jersey made significant changes to its parole board, and California initiated an early-release program for nonviolent offenders.
Meanwhile, Indiana has addressed the issue of prison overcrowding by implementing alternative sentencing options, such as community service or drug treatment programs, for nonviolent offenders. Indiana Department of Corrections (IDOC) has focused on better treatment facilities for the large number of people in Indiana prisons who suffer from verifiable mental issues and those who have drug or alcohol addictions. And, new job training options are preparing reentrants to find and get work after release—the No.1 reducer of recidivism.
A blueprint developed for Indiana by the ACLU has proposed changes in ‘time served’ for a whole list of various offenses. The organization maintains that Indiana could reduce the incarcerated population by 13,263 and save as much as $541 million. We can also evaluate the changes other states have made in this effort. But to get it done, it will take not only the willingness and creativity of Governor Braun and IDOC brass, it will require some common-sense legislation. That’s why I know we can do this.
If we have anything in Indiana, it’s common sense.
Nancy
