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First Step reforms prisons

Brownsville Herald - 6/19/2018

The business of doing criminal justice in the United States costs $270 billion a year. That's higher than the gross domestic product of Finland.

Even with all of this spending, federal recidivism rates are high, with about two-thirds of U.S. prisoners returning to prison within three years. Finding ways to help reduce these rates matters not just for crime reduction but also for taxes.

Fortunately, Sen. John Cornyn is leading the way in criminal justice reform.

Last month, Cornyn introduced a revised Senate prison reform bill, the First Step Act, aimed at reducing recidivism rates by rehabilitating low-risk offenders while they are incarcerated.

His proposal relies on a series of successful, evidence-based strategies that Texas has implemented since 2007. Budget constraints helped to force the Texas Legislature to divert low-risk and non-violent offenders into treatment programs and community supervision and away from institutionalization.

Cornyn's bill is not just smart on crime, it is smart on people. It relies on the development and utilization of risk assessment tools that will help more accurately sort prisoners to the kinds of treatment programs that might be most beneficial to them. It also reduces prison spending by incarcerating fewer people and for shorter periods of time, particularly low-risk offenders.

Importantly, it also provides for evidence-based recidivism programming for eligible offenders with the intent of giving them the tools they need to transition to the community and work force successfully, and does so soon after they are incarcerated instead of when they are about to be released.

There are other smart aspects of the bill, such as partnering with community- and faith-based organizations to create support networks, making attempts to curb prison rape, and requiring prison guards to receive de-escalation training.

And before some readers say this bill is about coddling prisoners, rest assured that the First Step Act is not applied to those who commit very serious crimes.

The bottom line is that we do know a lot about what works for prisoners. Many programs are evidence-based, relying on strong and consistent empirical research backing up the success stories of individual prisoners. Yet, we must also be mindful that these sorts of interventions that occur after people enter the justice system are only one part of the equation.

Equally, if not more, important are the prevention strategies that need to be carried out early in a child's life, including parent training programs, Head Start and pre-kindergarten. Those investments are not just about averting children from delinquency and crime, but also about helping them develop social skills, successful learning habits, and ultimately success in school, work and life.

This is no small matter; as research that I conducted with Mark Cohen of Vanderbilt University published in the Journal of Quantitative Criminology showed, saving just one high-risk youth at birth from a life of crime would save society, on average, about $3 million.

When it comes to our traditional criminal justice system, a line from the Eagles song "Hotel California" comes to mind: "You can check out any time you like, but you can never leave." Cornyn's bill is designed to change that by ensuring those who leave actually check out and never return, but re-enter society with the hope of a successful life.

Alex R. Piquero is a criminology professor and associate dean for graduate programs in the School of Economic, Political and Policy Sciences at the University of Texas at Dallas. He wrote this column for The Dallas Morning News.