Council of State Governments Justice Center Report Highlights State Successes in Curbing Corrections Costs and Improving Public Safety

The Council of State Governments Justice Center (CSG Justice Center) recently released a new report entitled, Lessons from the States: Reducing Recidivism and Curbing Corrections Costs Through Justice Reinvestment. The report lays out lessons and strategies related to justice reinvestment - a bipartisan, inter-branch process in which policymakers use data to design strategies that increase public safety and reduce spending on corrections. Over the past 20 years, state spending on corrections skyrocketed from $12 billion in 1988 to more than $52 billion in 2011. In 2007, Texas implemented justice reinvestment policies resulting in $3.2 billion in savings over the past five years. Since then, dozens of states and counties have designed and implemented similar justice reinvestment strategies with the help of organizations such as the CSG Justice Center and in partnership with the Bureau of Justice Assistance and The Pew Charitable Trusts. The report goes on to highlight a number of these states that have seen significant savings from passing and implementing justice reinvestment litigation in recent years. To read the full report and learn more about the key strategies for achieving state savings, please click on the link below.