How to Reverse Incarceration in
Louisiana
Thirteen Steps to Stop Being First
in Being Last
By Bill Quigley
Louisiana was recently named “Worst
State”
in the nation,
again.
One of the reasons was the state’s
50th ranking in crime and
corrections.
Being the
incarceration capital of the county
is obviously not helping our
reputation.
Here
are a dozen plus ways for Louisiana
to stop jailing many more of its
citizens than
Iran or China.
One.
Decriminalize
victimless crimes
- don't arrest people for stupid
non-violent crimes in the first
place.
Two.
Stop racial profiling. African
American people are
two to three times as likely to be
arrested
as whites. Even though marijuana
use is roughly similar in all
communities, Blacks are much more
likely than whites
to be arrested and convicted
of marijuana crimes. Overall,
African Americans and Latinos are
incarcerated at rates two to four
times higher
than their population. Black
prisoners make up
91 percent
of the people sentenced to life
without parole for non-violent
offenses and are
23 times more likely than whites
to be sentenced to life without
parole for a non-violent crime.
Three.
Let people out of jail while they
are waiting for trial
unless they are a danger to society
or a flight risk and
don’t put people in jail if they are
too poor to pay a fine.
As the
Civil Rights Corps
has documented, people held in jail
awaiting trial, or sent to jail if
they are too poor to pay court fines
and fees lose their jobs, kids,
apartments and their ability to
support themselves.
Four.
Expand pre-trial diversion for
non-violent offenders and keep them
out of the criminal legal system as
the
American Bar Association
suggests.
Five.
Prohibit local sheriffs
from holding arrested or convicted
prisoners from outside their parish,
thus removing the cash incentives
for keeping high numbers of people
in jail.
Six.
Give equal resources to public
defenders and prosecutors.
Nationwide, public defense gets
less than half
the amount given to prosecutors.
When people get constitutional
defense they usually are less likely
to be convicted and if convicted
receive less harsh sentences.
Seven.
Like the other 48 states, require
Louisiana juries to come to
unanimous decisions.
Non-unanimous juries allow many
more people to be convicted and they
arise from a
serious racist history.
Eight.
Reform sentencing laws. The
Louisiana
Pelican Institute for Public Policy
called for
eliminating mandatory minimums
for non-violent offenses as other
states have already done. This
could
save the state $100 million.
Prohibit the use of
habitual offender laws
against non-violent offenders as
suggested by the
Louisiana Legislative Auditor.
Nine.
Offer
rehabilitation programs
inside every jail and allow every
prisoner to participate.
Ten.
Let older prisoners out of jail,
they are
much less likely to commit crimes.
The
Louisiana Department of Public
Safety and Corrections
reported there are 7,492 prisoners
in Louisiana who are already over
the age of 50.
Eleven.
Invest in re-entry release support
programs for every person released
from prison.
These programs
save money, reduce the number of
people returning to jail and help
people become self-sufficient
members of society.
|
Break
Free From The Matrix
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Twelve.
Make it
easier to expunge
criminal convictions so people who
made mistakes can start rebuilding
their lives.
Thirteen.
Return the maximum prison sentence
in Louisiana to
10 years and 6 months
if the prisoner maintains a good
conduct record. Louisiana has
4,860 offenders incarcerated for
life,
the
highest rate in the nation.
Louisiana also has the
highest number of prisoners
serving life without parole for
non-violent offenses.
Why
don’t legislators take these steps?
Many say they fear voters might
think they are soft on crime. As
international politician
Jean-Claude Juncker
said wisely “We all know what to do,
we just don’t know how to get
re-elected after we’ve done it.”
But if Louisiana would take even
half of these steps, maybe we
wouldn’t always be first in being
last.
