A bill that is actually moving through Congress is a sentencing reform measure that would reduce some prison terms in order to lessen overcrowding in the federal system. The bill, which cleared the Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday, is based on the premise that it costs less to have fewer prisoners and to keep them from violating their parole.
If that sounds familiar, it’s because North Carolina embarked on that road in 2011 with measurable success. It was probably the biggest bipartisan piece of legislation under now-U.S. Sen. Thom Tillis’ watch when he was speaker of the state House.
Tillis is drawing on that experience in co-sponsoring the federal legislation, he said in a phone interview with Dome soon after the committee vote.
Tillis cites data from North Carolina’s Justice Reinvestment Act, which emphasizes community resources to help keep minor offenders from returning to prison. The latest numbers show a 14 percent drop in recidivism, a 50 percent drop in probation revocation and an 11 percent drop in the crime rate since the program has been in place.
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The state Department of Public Safety estimates that $560 million has been saved over the past three or four years, 10 prisons have closed and the number of prisoners has dropped from a projected 43,000 to 35,000. Not all of that can be attributed to sentencing reform. But, Tillis said, it helps.
If you free up resources for the cost of incarceration then you can spend it on things that make a lot of sense.
U.S. Sen. Thom Tillis
“If you free up resources for the cost of incarceration then you can spend it on things that make a lot of sense, like training, having better-capable law enforcement to enforce the crimes that we think are important,” Tillis said. “You can have more parole officers so you make it less likely that somebody is going to violate their parole and transition them back into a law-abiding life.”
One part of the bill deals with recidivism issues, and another, more controversial, section concerns reducing sentences for those currently serving convictions for some drug offenses and other crimes. It increases mandatory minimum sentences for domestic violence and other offenses.
Sen. Ted Cruz on Thursday tried to amend the bill to exclude prisoners who are currently serving their sentences. Other critics have expressed concern that dangerous criminals could be released.
An amendment by Tillis clarifies that there would not be a blanket policy that releases some 7,000 inmates who might be eligible for retroactively lesser sentences. Rather, each case would have to be considered on its own merits.
“When we do that, I think some of the examples people are using about violent offenders getting out are highly unlikely,” Tillis said.
The bill passed out of the committee on a 15-5 vote. Tillis said he was “guardedly optimistic” that it would clear the Senate, and then it would go to the House.
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