While the long held perception may not be true that the Chinese symbol for crisis is composed of danger + opportunity, nonetheless we need to find opportunity to rethink our justice system because of our economic crisis.

For example, the head of the nation’s largest sheriff’s department is warning that nearly 4,000 jail inmates might be released early and about 600 deputy and professional positions could be eliminated to meet budget cuts.  Read more here http://tinyurl.com/d4naaw

In a previous post, I noted the good work being done by Justice Nancy D. Mills in Kennebec, ME to address recidivism for inmates with co-occurring disorders.  Reducing repeat offenders will reduce the need for jails.

Effective probation will also reduce the need for prisons.  It also is less costly.  The cost of probation is generally agreed to be significantly less than prison with estimates ranging from 50% to 90% yearly cost savings.

Naturally, the key consideration is public safety.  Certainly while offenders are imprisoned they will not be committing any crime - the public is safe.  However, in the Rand July 1986 study, Prison Versus Probation in California (http://tinyurl.com/djevuh), they found for most categories of crime, an offender who had been released from prison was more likely to repeat than a probationer.  While the high recidivism rate in this study for both groups is troubling (47% for prisoners, 31% for probationers), there does seem to be some opportunity to decrease costs while improving public safety and rehabilitation.