Today, a special 3-judge district court panel, including Eastern District Judge Lawrence K. Karlton, issued an Opinion that will require California to reduce its prison population by more than 40,000 over a 2-year period. [Sacramento Bee and New York Times stories added 8/5/09]. Interesting timing, only one day after AG Eric Holder gave a speech to the American Bar Association convention where he acknowledged that prisons will not solve our country's crime problems:
We will not focus exclusively on incarceration as the most effective means of protecting public safety,” Holder told the American Bar Association delegates meeting here for their annual convention. “Since 2003, spending on incarceration has continued to rise, but crime rates have flattened.”
“Today, one out of every 100 adults in America is incarcerated — the highest incarceration rate in the world,” he said. But the country has reached a point of diminishing returns at which putting even greater percentages of America’s citizens behind bars won’t cut the crime rate.
“Most crimes in America are committed by people who have committed crimes before,” Holder said. “About 67 percent of former state prisoners and 40 percent of former federal prisoners are re-arrested within three years of release. If we can reduce the rate of recidivism, we will directly reduce the crime rate.”
Talk Left, "AG Holder: Prisons Not the Answer" The full text of Holder's 8/3/09 speech to the ABA is available here