by TChris

States are rethinking the "lock 'em up" approach to crime as they notice a correlation between soaring prison populations and rising deficits. A report by the Justice Department should fuel the demand for reform.

The number of arrests rose only to 13.7 million in 2001 from 12 million in 1982, and the number of court cases grew only to 92.8 million in 2001 from 86 million in 1984, the report found. But the number of state and federal prison inmates jumped to 1.3 million in 2001, up from only 488,000 in 1985. At the same time, the number of inmates in local and county jails tripled, to 631,000, the report said.

The pricetag for fighting crime reached $167 billion in 2001. Realizing that they can't afford to continue funding an unduly harsh response to crime, states have started to rethink their sentencing philosophies.

In the last year, more than half the states took legislative steps to modify tough sentencing laws they passed in the 1990's, like scrapping mandatory minimum terms or requiring treatment instead of prison for first-time drug offenders, said Dan Wilhelm, director of the state sentencing and corrections program at the Vera Institute of Justice in New York.

Professor Michael Jacobson says that the policy changes have been "minor reformist efforts, just nibbling around the edges," and argues that this is a good time "to take a new look at how we use mass incarceration."

One big savings could come from a revised parole policy, he said, returning fewer parolees to prison for minor infractions like being late for an appointment with a parole officer or failing a drug test. This would be particularly helpful in California, the state with the largest number of inmates and where almost two-thirds are in prison for parole violations.