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Mississippi and Texas Leading Gulf South States
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Mississippi and Texas Leading Gulf South States</h2>
<p>By Alex Mikulich, Ph.D.</p>
<p> “Today, a vicious cycle of poverty, criminality, and incarceration <span>traps too many Americans and weakens too many communities” said </span><span>U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder in a major policy initiative </span><span>presented last August. He explained that “many aspects of our </span><span>criminal justice system may actually exacerbate these problems rather </span><span>than alleviate them.”[1] </span></p>
<p><span> </span><span>Calling for a new approach to the “war on drugs,” the attorney </span><span>general lamented “our system is broken” as “too many Americans go </span><span>to too many prisons for far too long and for no truly good law </span><span>enforcement reason.”[2] </span></p>
<p><span> </span><span>Seventeen states, supported by the Justice Department and </span><span>leaders of both parties, have directed funding away from prison </span><span>construction toward evidence-based programs and services such as </span><span>drug treatment and supervision, designed to reduce recidivism.</span></p>
<p><span> </span><span>The effort to pursue alternatives to incarceration for low-level, </span><span>nonviolent crimes is one of five key principles of the U.S. Justice </span><span>Department’s “Smart on Crime: Reforming the Criminal Justice </span><span>System for the 21st Century” policy initiative.[3] </span></p>
<p><span> </span><span>Holder praised Texas for investing in drug treatment for </span><span>nonviolent offenders and changes in parole policies that reduced its </span><span>prison population by more than 5,000 inmates in 2012. Similar efforts i</span><span>n Arkansas helped reduce its prison population by more than 1,400. <a href="https://jsri.loyno.edu/sites/loyno.edu.jsri/files/JSQ Fall 2014 Criminal Justice.pdf">MORE>></a></span></p>
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Mississippi and Texas Leading Gulf South States</h2>
<p>By Alex Mikulich, Ph.D.</p>
<p> “Today, a vicious cycle of poverty, criminality, and incarceration <span>traps too many Americans and weakens too many communities” said </span><span>U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder in a major policy initiative </span><span>presented last August. He explained that “many aspects of our </span><span>criminal justice system may actually exacerbate these problems rather </span><span>than alleviate them.”[1] </span></p>
<p><span> </span><span>Calling for a new approach to the “war on drugs,” the attorney </span><span>general lamented “our system is broken” as “too many Americans go </span><span>to too many prisons for far too long and for no truly good law </span><span>enforcement reason.”[2] </span></p>
<p><span> </span><span>Seventeen states, supported by the Justice Department and </span><span>leaders of both parties, have directed funding away from prison </span><span>construction toward evidence-based programs and services such as </span><span>drug treatment and supervision, designed to reduce recidivism.</span></p>
<p><span> </span><span>The effort to pursue alternatives to incarceration for low-level, </span><span>nonviolent crimes is one of five key principles of the U.S. Justice </span><span>Department’s “Smart on Crime: Reforming the Criminal Justice </span><span>System for the 21st Century” policy initiative.[3] </span></p>
<p><span> </span><span>Holder praised Texas for investing in drug treatment for </span><span>nonviolent offenders and changes in parole policies that reduced its </span><span>prison population by more than 5,000 inmates in 2012. Similar efforts i</span><span>n Arkansas helped reduce its prison population by more than 1,400. <a href="https://jsri.loyno.edu/sites/loyno.edu.jsri/files/JSQ Fall 2014 Criminal Justice.pdf">MORE>></a></span></p>
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