Seek Justice

Links Decarceration Strategies – How 5 States Achieved Substantial Prison Population Reductions (PDF, The Sentencing Project) Connecticut: Declined 25%, 2007-2016 Focused on reducing young people’s contact with the justice system through reducing school suspensions, changing criteria for detention, and raising the age of adult jurisdiction from 16 to 18. Michigan: Declined 20%, 2006-2016 Increased parole grants by expanding capacity of the parole board, and reduced returns to prison by establishing Technical Rule Violator centers for enhanced programming and services. Mississippi: Declined 17.5%, 2008-2016 Reduced time served in prison by scaling back the “truth in sentencing” policy from 85% time served to 25%, and applied changes retroactively; adopted a risk assessment instrument that contributed to doubling of parole approval rate. Rhode Island: Declined 23%, 2008-2016 Reduced time served in prison by establishing earned-time credits of 10 days per month, and eliminated mandatory sentence