States reduce prison populations as budgets shrink

Washington Post
By: Krissah Thompson
Published: March 3, 2010
Read the original article

Many state governments continued last year to reduce their prison populations through sentencing reforms enacted because of shrinking state budgets, according to two reports released Wednesday by a research group that advocates for lower rates of imprisonment.

In 2009, at least 19 states adopted criminal justice policies intended to cut down on the number of prisoners they house by shortening sentences, according to the Sentencing Project. For example, Minnesota, New York and Rhode Island each scaled back mandatory sentencing laws for some drug offenses.

Three states -- Michigan, New Jersey and New York -- reduced their prison populations by at least 12 percent in the past decade by making similar changes, according to state public safety data cited by the report. Those states saw no increase in crime, according to the report.