The criminal justice system in the United States is far from healthy, and it does not take a particular ideology to see its ills. From staggering costs to high incarceration rates for nonviolent and drug offenders to unacceptable recidivism levels to unfair sentencing, there is room for improvement from many perspectives. To that end, an unlikely coalition has convened to put its collective political, intellectual and financial resources to work to push for reforms nationwide and at the state and local levels. It is a bold endeavor and a much-needed one.
The newly minted Coalition for Public Safety unites staunch conservative groups with ardent liberal causes to work toward wholesale reform of what is universally regarded as a broken system. The Center for American Progress has joined forces with Koch Industries, the American Civil Liberties Union, Americans for Tax Reform, the Ford Foundation, the Faith and Freedom Coalition and the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation to advocate for reforming the criminal-justice system. The group has every reason to do so and the clout to make meaningful progress.
America’s burgeoning prison population is 2.2 million and growing, costing taxpayers $80 billion annually. We lead the world in the number of people incarcerated, with the majority – 60 percent – serving time for non-violent crimes. These convictions follow offenders far beyond prison walls, making it difficult to find housing and employment, therefore compounding the cycle of poverty that too often leads to criminal activity in the first place.
Further, voting restrictions on convicted felons prevents participation in the policy conversation for as many as 1 in 3 Americans. It is simply an unsustainable system that disproportionately affects minority communities, further compounding society-wide social, economic and political challenges.
With so many problems to address, there are many places for the coalition to spread its efforts. Perhaps foremost on the agenda can be to reinforce a bipartisan Senate proposal – echoing a recent Obama policy change – that would reduce mandatory sentences for some prisoners, as well as offer reduced time for those who participate successfully in recidivism-reduction programs. California’s Proposition 47, which passed in November, similarly aims to reduce sentences for some offenders by reclassifying certain felonies as misdemeanors and revises overly harsh sentences that some inmates are currently serving.
These sorts of reforms benefit all comers. Those who are presently convicted under unduly stringent sentencing guidelines will have some means of regaining a productive place in society, alleviating financial and emotional pressure on themselves and their families. The public savings associated with reducing the prison population is significant, as is the overall economic value of shifting a large number of people from being wards of the state to serving as contributors to its success. Ideology need not figure in to this obvious equation.
The divergent paths that brought together the Coalition for Public Safety will serve the group well in rallying support from lawmakers across the spectrum. There is widespread public support for criminal justice reform, and the reasons for taking swift and decisive action in doing so are innumerable. The reasons against are based not in pragmatics, compassion or commonsense.
The criminal justice system, in its current state, does little to reform those convicted of crimes and costs individuals, families and societies far too much in return. With resources aplenty to leverage, the Coalition for Public Safety can be an effective force for change.
