In 1973 the imprisonment rate in this country was 96 per 100,000. Today it is 482 per 100,000. Many commentators have proposed methods of reducing American reliance on incarceration, including diversion, intermediate sanctions, earlier release, and shorter determinate sentences. Only recently have most states taken these proposals seriously, in large part because incarceration costs so much. The Supreme Court’s decision in Brown v. La Plata (requiring reductions in California’s prison population), the Model Penal Code’s new sentencing policies, and recent proposals in Congress to reform the federal criminal justice system could also accelerate adoption of new approaches to sentencing.
This panel will discuss recent developments in correctional policy that can help reduce reliance on incarceration. The specific topics covered will include: the opportunity the budget crisis provides to nudge states toward “rehabilitation pragmatism and penal impact analysis"; the advent of new types of intermediate sanctions, diversion programs, and pretrial release mechanisms; and the political economy behind mass incarceration.