Longer prison sentences do not reduce crime, according to a new study from the Pew Center. The study compares length of prison sentences by state and type of crime from 1990 to 2009. The study also analyzes the relationship between time served and the resulting impact on public safety.  This study is completely upside down from the longstanding criminal justice theory-locking up in jail equates to public safety. In fact, the Pew Study indicates that when it comes to non-violent crimes, longer prison terms do not lead to safer streets or an overall decrease in crime.

Those convicted of drug offenses, including drug possession, drug trafficking, drug use, prescription drug fraud, and drug manufacturing; experienced harsher sentencing than previously convicted persons in the years since 1990. Drug offenders served an average of nine additional months in custody in 2009 compared to 1990 – this is a 36 percent increase in time served. The estimated cost of that additional nine months is approximately $23,300 per prisoner. The increased prison sentences cost an estimated $10 billion a year – more than half of this cost is spent on non-violent offenders.

The Pew Study concludes that non-violent offenders, like those convicted of drug crimes, could have served prison terms that were shorter by three months to two years without putting the public safety in jeopardy. This reality calls into question why the justice system is choosing to disproportionately incarcerate individuals when it could be using that money in more effective ways – ways that actually reduce crime, including treatment programs and other alternatives to incarceration.

A number of states have already undertaken reforms intended to reduce prison terms for non-violent offenders. Drug offenses have been the target of much of that reform. Some states are adjusting the penalties for drug crimes to better distinguish between serious drug crimes and lower level drug offenses. For example, Colorado has relaxed the penalties for lower-level drug offenses and saved an estimated $1.5 million in 2010 alone.

Reconstruction is necessary. The Pew Study reveals that putting people in prison for as long as possible is not the best way to spend the tax payers dollars or protect the public from crime, nor is it a proportional response to the nature of many offenses. In order to protect the rights of offenders, it is important to consider them as part of wider sentencing theory and practice.

 The Bottom Line:  If you have been arrested, and are a non-violent offender, it is imperative that you get an experienced criminal defense attorney on your case.  Put my number in your mobile: 513-260-2099.  I can be reached always.[/fusion_builder_column][/fusion_builder_row][/fusion_builder_container]