Washington Post: The U.S. imprisonment rate has fallen for the fifth straight year. Here’s why.
The U.S. imprisonment rate has fallen for a fifth straight year, a run not seen since Richard Nixon was in The White House. According to data released Tuesday from the Bureau of Justice Statistics, while the U.S. incarceration rate is still remarkably high, 2013 marks a 10-year low. For five reasons, the de-incarceration trend has an excellent chance of continuing.
First, crime is down by about 50% in the past two decades. …
Second, U.S. prison policy is primarily set by states and hence is less constrained than other potential reforms stalled by Washington's political gridlock. …
Third, even though conservatives and liberals are battling each other vigorously on many policy fronts, de-incarceration is not one of them. …
Fourth, a new generation of evidence-based community supervision programs …
Last, just as a high crime rate can create the conditions for more crime (e.g., by overwhelming law enforcement) and a low crime rate can create the conditions for less crime (e.g., by encouraging more citizens to walk the streets at night), lower imprisonment rates also appear capable of creating virtuous self-reinforcing cycles….
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