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The Department of Justice released statistics this week on the prison population in 2008, and while it’s hard to look at 2.3 million people behind bars and see good news, that’s exactly what this is. Our prison population is showing signs of slowing down — finally — and we have the recession to thank.<\/p>\n
A few facts from the study:<\/p>\n
More details are available from the Bureau of Justice Statistics<\/a>.<\/p>\n So what does all this mean?<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The recession has finally led us to reconsider our addiction to incarceration, and states from coast to coast are experimenting with alternatives to incarceration and innovative justice approaches like drug courts and early release for elderly prisoners. But the recession is leading us to make these politically unpopular choices. As University of Pennsylvania professor Ram Cnaan told the Associated Press<\/a>:<\/p>\n “It’s not ideological, it’s pragmatic,” said Cnaan. “This is the first time that we have alliances on the right and left on this issue, and it’s the money that has forced the issue.”<\/p>\n This isn’t a moment for reformers and advocates to celebrate success, however. It’s an opportunity for us to seize. The economy is shrinking our prisons, and tough-on-crime attitudes are shifting, too. This convergence means that we need a flood of organized, thoughtful policies across the country to help ease the transition to a society that gives people second chances.<\/p>\n