Arizona

Arizona's rigid sentencing system has put the state head and shoulders above its neighbors in the use of imprisonment. Population growth and a rule that all prisoners must serve 85 percent of their sentences have pushed the system near the breaking point and placed a large financial burden on state taxpayers. The state has experimented with prison privatization but recent research indicates that the policy has done little or nothing to control rising costs.
JS Publication May 11, 2004

Arizona Prison Crisis: A Call for Smart On Crime Solutions

With the ninth highest rate of incarceration in the nation, Arizona has become the incarceration capital of the western United States. The rate of prison population growth in 2002 was twice the regional average and the state incarcerates women, Latinos and African Americans at higher rates than its neighbors. Justice Strategies analysts found that mandatory sentencing laws are fueling overcrowding in the state by filling prisons with substance abusers.

Mandatory sentencing laws fuel overcrowding, fill prisons with substance abusers Read more »

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