There is no link between rising levels of imprisonment and falling crime, Justice Secretary Ken Clarke has said. With crime having fallen in most of the Western world in the 1990s, he said the decline may have been due to economic growth and high employment levels. Report from the BBC News.

Meanwhile, the Chief Inspector of Prisons for England and Wales, Dame Anne Owers, warned that “overpopulated” prisons are “increasingly brittle”.

She said the government should invest in alternatives to locking people up. Mr Clarke told judges at their annual Mansion House Dinner in London that “no-one can prove cause and effect” for why crime fell in the 1990s.

His comments come after former Tory home secretary Michael Howard recently criticised him for attacking high imprisonment rates.

BBC home affairs correspondent Danny Shaw said the justice secretary’s comments appeared to be a swipe at Mr Howard, who coined the phrase “prison works” in 1993.

In his speech on Tuesday night, Mr Clarke said: “There is and never has been, in my opinion, any direct correlation between spiralling growth in the prison population and a fall in crime.

“Crime has fallen in Britain throughout a period of both rising prison populations, and throughout the same period of economic growth, with strong employment levels and rising living standards.

“No-one can prove cause and effect. The crime rate fell but was this the consequence of the policies of my successors as home secretary or, dare I gently hint, mine as chancellor of the exchequer at the beginning of a period of growth and strong employment? We will never know.”

The justice secretary, who favours rehabilitation and community sentences, said crime had fallen in Canada in the 1990s after the prison population was cut by 11% and that crime did not rise significantly in Finland when similar measures had been taken there.

Inflated Prisons
Dame Anne Owers’ warning that prisons are now increasing brittle came in her valedictory lecture to the Prison Reform Trust on Tuesday night.

She said prisons “had become better places” but progress in rehabilitating offenders was slow because of the growing prison population.

She called upon ministers to “do things differently” in the “age of austerity” and invest in alternatives to prisons.

“We now have an inflated prison system in a shrinking state. It [is] crucial to invest in ‘not prison’ – both instead of and after prison,” she said.

She also issued a warning over the number of inmates – one in six of the prison population – serving indeterminate sentences, saying they were a source of “increasing volatility and potential disruption”.

“This is and will continue to be a significant upward driver of the prison population,” she said.

A Ministry of Justice spokesman said as part of the “rehabilitation revolution”, the government was working towards providing a “fit for purpose prison estate” by building new prisons and closing “inefficient and worn out places”.

“The government has announced its intention to conduct a full assessment of sentencing policy to ensure that it is effective in deterring crime, protecting the public, punishing offenders and cutting re-offending,” he added.

jchev Prison Population, Statistics, United Kingdom

According to a newly released report from the Arizona Prosecuting Attorney’s Advisory Council, more than 94 percent of Arizona prison inmates are either violent or repeat felony offenders, or both. Reported in the Yuma Sun. Complete report is available online.

Yuma County Attorney Jon R. Smith called the 90-page report, “Prisoners in Arizona: A Profile of the Inmate Population,” the most in-depth statistical profile of Arizona’s inmate population ever published.

“The information presented is not just of a random study of less than those currently serving time in Arizona prisons, but rather addresses all 40,431 inmates that were in custody as of Sept. 30, 2009,” said Smith, who serves as a member of APAAC.

The report was prepared by Daryl R. Fischer, Ph.D., at the request of the APAAC. Fischer was research manager at the Department of Corrections for nearly 20 years. APAAC, which was created by the Legislature in 1977, coordinates and provides training, education and support to Arizona prosecutors.

Smith said the report provides an in-depth analysis of the types of offenses for which the men and women behind bars in Arizona have been incarcerated.

Not only does it indicate what sentences inmates are serving, it also provides information on their histories of felony violence, details their prior criminal records and other relevant factors related to imprisonment.

As noted in the report’s executive summary, “the current and prior offense histories and institutional records of inmates in the custody of the Department of Corrections, as recorded by the department’s automated records system, were carefully screened for any history of violence, any indicators of repetitive criminal behavior, and any other factors that might be related to their imprisonment or to the prospects for a successful re-entry to the community.”

The report found that more than 65 percent of the inmates currently being incarcerated by the ADOC can be classified as violent offenders and that more than 50 percent of the inmates are currently incarcerated for one or more violent offenses.

Smith noted that less than 6 percent of the inmates were designated as non-violent, first-time offenders.  “While it is significant that nearly 95 percent of inmates in ADOC at the time of the study were designated as violent or repeat offenders, the low number of non-violent, first-time offenders indicates that the use of prisons in our system of justice is implemented in a responsible and accountable manner and not just as an easy means of addressing crime in the state.”
As Arizona faces the most severe financial crisis in history, and as the Legislature scrutinizes the budget of the ADOC, Smith said, “it is in our best interest to ensure the significance of this report is fully understood.”

“Some of the information we hear regarding the crisis and ways to address it is two-fold:  provide for early release of offenders and reduce staff at the prisons,” Smith said. “But the latter prong of the formula, reduction in staff, would be contingent on the former prong, early release, actually being feasible.

“Clearly, in light of the fact that 38,088 of the 40,514 inmates (nearly 94 percent) were either violent criminals, repeat criminals or violent repeat criminals; that nearly 83 percent alone were found to have one or more prior adult felony convictions or juvenile adjudications; and with over 41 percent having three or more prior felony convictions … any cost saved in association with an early release program would likely be outweighed by the overall costs to society’s and the citizens of Arizona’s safety and health.”

On related matters, Smith said the report does note that the state’s rehabilitation programs resulted in an average of 25 percent reduction in recidivism rates for inmates who participated.
The groups experiencing the greatest reduction in recidivism involved inmates serving 10 or more years. In those groups, the reduction went to 45 percent. But, the group that experienced the greatest increase in the rate of recidivism involved those inmates who served fewer than two years.

Smith said the report also found that of the state’s budget, 12 percent – or $1 billion – was spent in 2009 for the operation of ADOC.

Fisher, the author of the report, however, writes that “with this level of investment … tax dollars are being spent wisely.”

The report also indicates that the investment in tax dollars in the criminal justice system is paying off with a “crime rate that has been dropping unevenly but precipitously since 1995.”

“1995 is an important date that coincides with the establishment of the ‘Truth-in-Sentencing’ laws passed in ’93 and implemented in ’94 …”

Truth-in-Sentencing altered earned release mechanisms and abolished parole for offenses committed on or after Jan. 1, 1994.

“This legislation also mandated that an inmate serve his or her entire court-imposed sentence,” Smith noted, “except that a person may be eligible for earned release credits for up to a 15 percent reduction of his or her sentence for good behavior.

“In short, the numbers are staggering yet the information is very enlightening . . . but this is why we (APAAC) asked for the report. I think Dr. Fischer stated it best when he concluded that in a poor economic climate, the need to know grows exponentially and it is precisely the goal of this report to fill the information gap regarding the prison population.”

Other Key Findings

• 83.8 percent (33,896) of inmates were found to have one or more prior adult felony convictions or juvenile felony adjudications and more than half, 56 percent (22,639), of inmates had two or more prior felonies. A total of 41.8 percent of the inmate population had three or more prior felony convictions.
• More than 44 percent of the inmate population (17,947) has been previously committed to the Arizona Department of Corrections.
• Nearly 23 percent of Arizona’s inmates (9,260) are suspected or confirmed members of prison or street gangs. Almost 80 percent of these gang members have a history of felony violence. An incredible 99.3 percent of gang members in prison are violent or repeat offenders.
• Factoring out violent and repeat offenders, 2,343 inmates can be classified as non-violent first offenders.

One of the study’s focuses was non-violent first offenders and why they occupy beds in prison. The report found that most (2,278 or 97.2 percent) exhibit clearly identifiable characteristics that explain or otherwise justify the use of scarce prison resources to detain them. Most notably, 1,460 or 62.3 percent, are drug traffickers, 1,270 or 54.2 percent have ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) detainers and are likely undocumented aliens, 419 or 17.9 percent carry mandatory prison sentences, and 340 or 14.5 percent are technical probation violators.

jchev Arizona, Statistics

The Census Bureau took an important first step toward electoral fairness when it announced that it would publish data on prison populations earlier than in the past, in time for the next round of legislative redistricting. This data, which will become available in the spring of 2011, will make it easy for state lawmakers to draw honest legislative districts made up of real residents instead of falsely inflated districts made up partly of prison inmates whose homes are often far away. Edoiorial in the New York Times.

The early data will be welcome in states and localities that want to put an end to prison-based gerrymandering. But the real solution is for the Census Bureau to begin counting inmates at their homes instead of counting them as “residents” of their prisons.

The practice mattered little decades ago when the prison population was relatively small. But with about 1.4 million people in prison today, prison-based gerrymandering can shift political power from one end of a state or county or to another.

The practice persists even though the laws of most states say that prisons are not legitimate residences. But even lawmakers who represent prison districts are beginning to see that prison-based gerrymandering offends the principle of one person, one vote.

According to a new analysis by the Prison Policy Initiative, a research group, about 100 counties already remove prison inmates from the population count, and others may soon join them. Beyond that, more than a half dozen state legislatures are considering new laws that would require prison inmates to be taken out of the count for redistricting or counted at their homes.

It is too late to count prison inmates at their homes, not their cells, for the 2010 census. There is no excuse for not doing it in 2020.

jchev Statistics

The State Prison population would shrink nearly 20 percent in five years if the state paid for mental health treatment and more intense supervision of high-risk offenders while letting nonviolent offenders get out of jail earlier and face shorter supervision than they do now, a state report finds.News published by the Nashua Telegraph.

Judges, prosecutors, key state legislators and correction professionals overseeing a three-year study on prison recidivism Monday praised the findings of the Council of State Governments Justice Center’s report.

“These options would change how we think about the size of prison we need to build for offenders in this state,” said Senate President Sylvia Larsen, D-Concord.

The group will meet early next month to review the estimated costs and savings from these reforms and decide whether to urge the Legislature to adopt them.

To save money on prison spending long term requires spending it now, the authors concede.

For example, it would cost $2.4 million a year to give mental health treatment and rapid drug testing for all high- and medium-risk offenders in the community who need it, the report said.

Serving the high-risk offenders alone would cost $1.3 million, the study said.

Dr. Fred Osher is CSG director of health policy and said community treatment has a more lasting effect on keeping offenders from coming back.

“That’s where the action is,” Osher said.

The report urges that lawmakers spend 50 percent of the millions they would save on additional treatment in the community for offenders with alcohol and drug abuse problems, mental health illnesses or both at the same time.

National studies find that while counseling in prison cuts recidivism by 6 percent, combining that with treatment after release curbs it by 12 percent.

With the state already facing a significant revenue shortfall, some members of the panel asked the authors to list changes that won’t cost any money.

“There is a major cash flow problem we are facing, not just in this biennium but in the next biennium as well,” said state Rep. Neal Kurk, R-Weare.

Attorney General Michael Delaney urged quick action on one item after the report found that after serving maximum prison terms, more than 220 inmates each year were released into the community with no supervision.

Every offender should get at least nine months in the community with a tiered length of supervision depending on the severity of their crime, the study urged.

“These are law enforcement improvements that are long overdue and will make a big difference on the streets in the cities and towns of New Hampshire,” Delaney said.

Supreme Court Chief Justice John Broderick said community supports for inmates beyond mental health treatment need to be in place such as housing and available jobs.

“If somebody told me tomorrow I would have no home and no job, how would I do?” Broderick asked rhetorically.

Since 2000, the prison population has grown by 31 percent, but only 3 percent of that growth has come from new offenders committing crimes, said Marshall Clement, project director.

Within three years, more than half (51 percent) of those sent to State Prison return and that rate is above the national average.

Without change, the New Hampshire Center for Public Policy Studies estimates that by 2015, the State Prison population will grow 6 percent to 3,029.

The Department of Corrections says inmate ranks will grow 4 percent over the same time, in part because it set up with legislative support last year a Community Corrections Division to focus more intense supervision on high-risk offenders.

If these recommendations are adopted, the authors claim inmate population will ‘’gradually flatten out’’ and drop 18 percent to 2,340 inmates in 2015.

The report states lawmakers should set a limit on how long nonviolent offenders must remain in prison. The proposed cap would be no more than 120 percent of their minimum mandatory sentence, it said.

Superior Court Chief Justice Robert Lynn said he would prefer Corrections Commissioner William Wrenn be able to override and ignore any such limit in dealing with difficult, nonviolent offenders.

“I tend to think that might go too far and wonder if it would make more sense to enact legislation that gives the commissioner more flexibility on that,” Lynn told the group.

jchev Mental Health Issues, New Hampshire, Statistics

Scotland’s prison population has continued to rise, according to new

Scotland's prison population increased by 6%

national statistics. Reported by the BBC.

The figures showed the average daily prison population in the year to March was 7,835, up by 6% on the previous year and 31% over the past 10 years.

Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill said prison would always be the right punishment for those involved in serious crime. But he said simply building more prisons was not the answer.

Scotland’s chief statistician revealed that the majority of the prison population were sentenced prisoners. The most recent average daily figure for prisoners held on remand was 1,678 for the year from April 2008 to the end of March.

This was an increase of 8% over the previous year’s figure of 1,560, indicating an on-going rising trend in the remand population. On 30 June 2008, the crime category with the largest population of sentenced prisoners was non-sexual violent crime (37%), followed by drugs-related crimes (14%).

The 2008-09 average daily female prison population was 413, an 11% increase from 371 in 2007-08. The female prison population has shown a disproportionate increase of 97% over the past 10 years.

The number of prisoners serving sentences of six months or less has decreased, the statistics said.

Speaking during a visit to HMP Inverness, Mr MacAskill said: “Prison, if necessary for a long time, will always be the right punishment for those involved in serious crime and those who are a danger to our communities.

“That is why we are investing £120m each year in our prison estate, including the building of three new prisons.

“But we cannot and will not build even more prisons to fill them with those for whom prison is not the right answer.”

‘Revolving door’

He said short sentences of six months or less did nothing to stop offending behaviour.

“Reconviction statistics published earlier this year show just how many offenders are going inside for a short period of time, coming out to reoffend, and then going back inside,” he added. “We need to close that revolving door of reoffending. And to do that we need to tackle the underlying causes of crime – drink, drugs and deprivation.”

In response to the increase in the prison population, John Lamont, the Conservative spokesman on community safety said:

“Prison numbers will only be properly cut when crime is cut. Prison serves four important functions: to deter criminals, to protect the public, to punish and to rehabilitate. All four matter and we have to have the political will to make prison work.

‘Soft touch’

He said that in the SNP’s Scotland, people have to be very unlucky to end up in jail.

He added: “The prime duty of government is to protect the public. The SNP is guilty of a dereliction of that duty.”

Scottish Labour’s justice spokesman Richard Baker said: “Kenny MacAskill’s soft touch approach is not deterring criminals and his management of the prison estate has been woeful.

“Why was the build of Low Moss prison delayed? Why is he closing Craiginches prison in Aberdeen? Mr MacAskill is looking to weaken the criminal justice system and that is not the right approach for dealing with any category of offender. ”

He added: “We do want to see effective community sentences, and in many instances this will be appropriate for female offenders, but this requires appropriate investment in community sentences in which the public can have confidence.”

jchev Corrections Reform, Scotland, Statistics