Pubdate: Fri, 26 Dec 2014
Source: Wall Street Journal (US)
Copyright: 2014 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
Contact:  http://www.wsj.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/487
Authors: Robert E. Rubin and Nicholas Turner
Note: Mr. Rubin, a former U.S. Treasury secretary, is co-chairman of 
the Council on Foreign Relations. Mr. Turner is president and 
director of the Vera Institute of Justice.
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/prison.htm (Incarceration)

THE STEEP COST OF AMERICA'S HIGH INCARCERATION RATE

About one of every 100 U.S. adults is in prison. That's five to 10 
times higher than in Western Europe.

One of us is a former Treasury secretary, the other directs a 
criminal-justice institute. But we've reached the same conclusions. 
America's overreliance on incarceration is exacting excessive costs 
on individuals and communities, as well as on the national economy. 
Sentences are too long, and parole and probation policies too 
inflexible. There is too little rehabilitation in prison and 
inadequate support for life after prison.

Crime itself has a terrible human cost and a serious economic cost. 
But appropriate punishment for those who are a risk to public safety 
shouldn't obscure the vast deficiencies in the criminal-justice 
system that impose a significant drag on the economy.

The U.S. rate of incarceration, with nearly one of every 100 adults 
in prison or jail, is five to 10 times higher than the rates in 
Western Europe and other democracies, according to a groundbreaking, 
464-page report released this year by the National Academy of 
Sciences. America puts people in prison for crimes that other nations 
don't, mostly minor drug offenses, and keeps them in prison much 
longer. Yet these long sentences have had at best a marginal impact 
on crime reduction.

This is not only a serious humanitarian and social issue, but one 
with profound economic and fiscal consequences. In an increasingly 
competitive global economy, equipping Americans for the modern 
workforce is an economic imperative. Excessive incarceration harms 
productivity. People in prison are people who aren't working. And 
without effective rehabilitation, many are ill-equipped to work after release.

For the more than 600,000 people who leave prison and re-enter 
society every year, finding employment can be a severe challenge. 
Prison time carries a social stigma, which makes finding any job, let 
alone a good job, all too difficult. The Labor Department doesn't 
track the unemployment rate for people with prison records.

But a 2006 study by the Independent Committee on Reentry and 
Employment found that up to 60% of formerly incarcerated people are 
unemployed one year after release, with their unemployment rates 
rising to above 65% during the 2008-09 recession, according to a 
study in the Journal of Correctional Education. And even when they 
find employment, people who have been incarcerated earn 40% less than 
people of similar circumstances who have never been imprisoned, 
according to a study by the Massachusetts Criminal Justice Reform 
Coalition. Faced with obstacles to gainful employment, it's no 
surprise that 43% of people released from prison end up back behind 
bars within three years, according to a recent Pew study on recidivism.

The costs of incarceration extend across generations. Nearly three 
million American children have a parent in prison or jail. Growing up 
with an incarcerated parent can harm childhood development. Research 
by Pew shows that children with fathers who have been incarcerated 
are nearly six times more likely to be expelled or suspended from 
school. Incarceration therefore helps perpetuate the cycle of family 
poverty and increases the potential for next generation criminal 
activity. A 2009 study by two Villanova sociologists found that, from 
1980 to 2004, the official poverty rate would have fallen by more 
than 10% had it not been for our nation's incarceration policies.

Many of the people who end up in prison are already acutely 
disadvantaged to begin with. In terms of basic education, more than a 
third of people in prison do not have a high-school diploma or GED, 
according to the Justice Department. And Columbia University 
researchers in 2010 found that two-thirds of people in prison 
struggled with drug addiction before incarceration. A study released 
in 2006 by the Bureau of Justice Statistics found that 45% of federal 
prisoners, 56% of state prisoners and 64% of local jail inmates 
suffered from mental-health problems.

Instead of allowing these disadvantages to fester in prison, we need 
new policies that are designed to foster positive change, giving 
those who are incarcerated the skills they need to re-enter society 
as productive members of the workforce. For example, the government 
currently bars people in prison from receiving Pell Grants, a 
counterproductive policy that should be reversed. Substance abuse and 
mental-health treatment programs, along with educational support, can 
help people leave prison healthier and better-equipped to make 
socially productive choices.

Model programs are being piloted at the state level. For example, the 
Vera Institute of Justice's Pathways from Prison to Post-Secondary 
Education project is working with more than 900 students in 14 
prisons. The program provides college classes and re-entry support 
such as financial literacy training, legal services, employment 
counseling and workshops on family reintegration. A 2013 
meta-analysis by RAND has already found that recidivism decreases 
when a former inmate graduates from college, which also boosts 
lifetime earning potential.

And clearly, we need significant sentencing and parole reform. There 
is widespread bipartisan agreement that we are using prison for too 
many crimes and for too long, with concentrated effects in many 
communities. One possibility for reform is the Smarter Sentencing 
Act, introduced by Democratic Sen. Dick Durbin and Republican Sen. 
Mike Lee, which boasts 30 co-sponsors and was successfully reported 
out of the Senate Judiciary Committee this spring. The bill's House 
companion also enjoys strong bipartisan support. There are also 
examples of progress in statehouses around the country. In 2013, 35 
states passed bills to change some aspect of how their criminal 
justice systems address sentencing and parole; since 2009, more than 
30 states have reformed existing drug laws and sentencing practices, 
according to reports from Vera this year.

The time has come to make sensible reform in these four areas - 
sentencing, parole, rehabilitation and re-entry - a national 
priority. Doing so could accomplish a tremendous amount for families, 
communities and the U.S. economy.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom