The Obama administration has released a new report that says the government should spend less on prisons and more on helping prevent crime.
The report aims to help build support for the bipartisan campaign for criminal justice by showing that longer prison sentences for non-violent criminals and crowded prisons are putting an additional strain on the economy rather than helping it.
The incarcerated population is 4.5 times larger than in 1980 with approximately 2.2 million people behind bars, including people in federal and state prisons and local jails, according to the report by the president’s Council of Economic Advisers or CEA. Longer sentences and higher conviction rates for nearly all offenses are driving those higher rates, the report states.
At the same time, crime rates have fallen sharply. For example, violent crime rates between 1980 and 2014 dropped from 39 percent and property crime rates fell by 52 percent.
The Council’s research found that incarceration growth is “unlikely” to be a root cause of the drop in crime, citing research showing that the decrease may be attributable to a number of other factors, including demographic changes, changes in policing tactics and improving economic conditions.
Given those numbers, the report, finds that the increased incarceration rate, relative to investments in police and education, fails basic cost-benefit tests.
For instance, the report found that a $10 billion increase in incarceration spending would reduce crime by 1 to 4 percent and have a net societal benefit of $8 billion to $1 billion.
At the same time, a $10 billion investment in police hiring would decrease crime by 5 to 16 percent and have a net societal benefit of $4 to $38 billion.
The White House also named next week “National Reentry Week” for former prisoners.
“The push for reform comes from many angles, from the high financial cost of maintaining current levels of incarceration to the humanitarian consequences of detaining more individuals than any other country,” the White House said in a statement.
President Obama also used his weekly radio address to rally the nation for the new criminal justice reform initiatives.
“This isn’t just about what makes economic and practical sense,” he said. “It’s about making sure that we live up to our ideals as a nation,” he said.
Conservative and liberal economists alike are “of one mind” that crowded prisons and high incarceration rates are “counter-productive to our economy as a whole in addition to hurting the people involved,” Jason Furman, who chairs the CEA, told reporters Friday.
On Monday, the White House will host an event featuring administration officials, economists, business leaders and scholars to discuss the report’s findings. The conservative American Enterprise Institute and New York University’s Brennan Center for Justice will host co-host the forum.
The same day, as part of National Reentry Week, Attorney General Loretta Lynch and Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julian Castro will hold an event in Philadelphia featuring public housing advocates, legal services providers and community leaders.
Later in the week, Lynch will travel to Talladega, Ala., to highlight the successes of re-entry programs there, and deputy Attorney General Sally Yates will visit a federal women’s prison in Texas.
“Too often, justice-involved individuals who have paid their debt to society confront daunting obstacles to good jobs, decent housing, adequate health care, quality education, and even the right to vote,” Lynch said Saturday in a statement.
“National Reentry Week highlights the many ways that the Department of Justice — and the entire Obama administration — is working to tear down the barriers that stand between returning citizens and a meaningful second chance — leading to brighter futures, stronger communities, and a more just and equal nation for all,” she added.
The report released Saturday also aims to underscore an argument for a minimum wage increase for low-income individuals. By raising the minimum wage to $12 by 2020, there would be a 3 to 5 percent decrease in crime and a societal benefit of $8 to $17 billion, the report found, the report says.
