The Solution to Indiana's High Prison Costs
Ordinarily, a kind mention in the New York Times -- there have actually been a few, lately -- sends me back for a serious rethink of whatever action or stance gave rise to the compliment. But this week's support for our proposed criminal justice reforms in Indiana will engender no second thoughts, because the Times has it right -- we can be a lot smarter about our incarceration policies.
During my transition to service in December 2004, I was told that we would need to build at least one new prison a year starting immediately. I said, "Uh, the state's broke. I think we'll need to find an alternative." Six years later, we are housing 38% more prisoners without having built one additional cell. At a per day cost that is down around 30%, by the way. But even we are out of capacity utilization ideas.
Enter our friends from the Council on State Governments and the Pew Foundation. Their analysis shows that we are imprisoning, in our most expensive spaces, more people for relatively minor, non-violent offenses, like low-level property and drug violations, than most other states. Some of our guests are not with the state corrections system long enough for any rehabilitation, substance abuse counseling, or job training to take place. They're only with us, as my guys say, "long enough to study under some real criminals."
If we can get our legislature to go along, we will soon be matching the place of incarceration more closely to the offender's true danger to society, reducing recidivism and saving a bundle of money on new prisons we don't have to build and staff. We'll reinvest a small fraction of the savings into better community corrections and rehab services. And, as the researchers told us, "You'll still be five times tougher on criminals than Ohio, just not ten times."
As the Times editorialists were thinking, "Even a benighted Midwestern Republican stumbles on a good idea once in a while." Which is approximately what I was thinking about them!
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May '10
Re: The Solution to Indiana's High Prison Costs
Governor Daniels - while I realize that states face choices that run from bad to worse when it comes to what resources to devote to incarceration, please keep in mind that things like "low level property" violations are by no means "low level" to those who are victims of those crimes.
I may be hard-hearted, but I feel that the criminal justice system exists first to protect the law-abiding from those who prey on them and that means incarceration. Rehabilitation? Substance-abuse counseling? Job training? I don't commit any crimes and none of these goods are available to me. Aren't these offenders already given a free public education?
Jul '10
Re: The Solution to Indiana's High Prison Costs
Hmm. That's a catchy line Gov. Daniels. Gotta wonder though, exactly how minor the crooks' offenses seem to their victims.
What types of minor offenses entail lengthy incarceration in Indiana?
I'm gonna go out on a limb and guess that we're not talking about jaywalkers, first-time drug users, prostitutes, etc.
Just how likely are we to reduce recidivism if penalties disappear?
What does that mean?
Who decides? Judges? Juries? Wardens?
Jun '10
Re: The Solution to Indiana's High Prison Costs
My experience as a teacher in the juvenile detention system has shown me that young criminals can be rehabilitated. Unfortunately, young criminals are often transferred to adult institutions to finish out their sentences. Contact with hardened criminals completely reverses the process of rehabilitation. My advice, for what it's worth, is to segregate your prison populations. Those that show a capacity for rehabilitation should be kept separate from career criminals. My colleague who taught in the adult facility for a time would offer you the following regarding career criminals: break them! No release into society until they are too old or too enfeebled to be a threat. Sounds cruel, but it's the only way to protect society from such predators.
Re: The Solution to Indiana's High Prison Costs
Governor, am I understanding the research to suggest that housing the comparatively light offenders away from the hard core cases will reduce recidivism and thereby free up more space than would otherwise be available? I'm sympathetic to KervinLee's reminder above that we incarcerate criminals to protect society, and that rehabilitative strategies should not be the primary goal. Is there empirical data to back up the research?
Nov '10
Re: The Solution to Indiana's High Prison Costs
Re: The Solution to Indiana's High Prison Costs
Dave, there's a lot of research to suggest that prison hardens (relatively) minor criminals into major criminals. Not always, of course, but breaking the chain of minor-misdemeanor-incarceration-major-crime pattern is something cities have had some success with. Here in LA, for a while, there was a successful program to intervene with juvenile and young criminals before they went to the big house.
In the old days, of course, they had things like Honor Ranches and Honor Farms which made a lot of old fashioned sense to people, until the 1950's and 1960's came along and society convinced itself that crime was a symptom of "root causes," like poverty or racism. At which point we lost interest in thinking about corrective punishments and started thinking, instead, about social programs and group therapy.
Nov '10
Re: The Solution to Indiana's High Prison Costs
Wish Mayor Giuliani could weigh in here on the merits of his highly effective broken windows theory.
Edited on Jan 18, 2011 at 9:22pmMay '10
Re: The Solution to Indiana's High Prison Costs
I agree that keeping minor criminals away from major criminals isn't the same as rehabilitation. Prisons have become training grounds for criminals.
Much of the problem is that imprisonment has wrongly become a one-size-fits-all punishment. This is something Congressman Ted Poe understood when he was a county judge. I'd like to see he and Daniels discuss the issue on Ricochet. But...
I think politicians come to Ricochet to speak, not to listen and discuss. In fairness, it probably has more to do with time than interest.
I'm not sure yet if there's a difference between their Ricochet posts and their letters to constituents.
Re: The Solution to Indiana's High Prison Costs
Aaron Miller:
I think politicians come to Ricochet to speak, not to listen and discuss. In fairness, it probably has more to do with time than interest.
I'm not sure yet if there's a difference between their Ricochet posts and their letters to constituents. · Jan 19 at 7:51am
Probably true for some, Aaron. But certainly not the case here with Governor Daniels. I know because this post was the result of a specific and detailed question that I asked him to address. And I also know that he's seen the responses here on this thread. Not sure if he'll weigh in further (busy man), but I certainly hope he does!
May '10
Re: The Solution to Indiana's High Prison Costs
Thanks for the clarification, Diane.