Life After Prison
Cat.: Beltway Outsider, Dept. of Justice, Government in My Backyard (GIMBY)05. March 2010
Comment
The New York Times' Monica Davey has a report today on prisoner early release programs done by state governments that face budget deficits. The plans have mostly proved to be politically poisonous. Here in Illinois, Gov. Pat Quinn prematurely ended an early release plan when 50 of the 1,700 prisoners the Illinois Dept. of Corrections released proceeded to commit new violations. In fact, Quinn went so far to say that he wasn't fully aware of the plan -- claiming that the Dept. of Corrections went against his directives.
Early release programs may not be the best way to balance a state budget. But evidence that some early release prisoners have committed new violations needs to be put in context.





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