Closing Prisons' Revolving Door

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Public Policy and External Relations July 5, 2012 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~      Justice Department Attempts to Close Prisons' Revolving Door       Written by Maxwell Blum for RegBlog| 07/04/12 Penn Program on Regulation University of Pennsylvania Law School   In late May, Attorney General Eric Holder delivered the opening remarks at the "Second Chances and Safer Communities Conference," highlighting the Department of Justice's (DOJ) desire to bring down recidivism rates and ease the reintegration process for convicted felons.   The DOJ asserts that smoothing the path to reentry will lower recidivism and help reduce overall crime rates. Roughly 40% of prisoners are reincarcerated within three years of release.   However, according to a 2009 study, young and or violent offenders who can remain arrest-free for eight years after release are no more likely to commit future offenses than members of the general public. This time frame drops to three to four years for older offenders.    One possible strategy for lowering recidivism would be to eliminate state and federal regulations that inhibit employment of former offenders, even those who have remained arrest-free. Although research has not shown conclusively that such a strategy will in fact lower recidivism rates, Attorney General Eric Holder stated that he will be consulting with State Attorneys General on reforming relevant statutes and that the federal government will be conducting its own review through a Federal Interagency Reentry Council.   In conjunction with Holder's conference speech, the DOJ also launched a "What Works in Reentry Clearinghouse," an online resource that provides access to comprehensive, user-friendly information about a wide array of reentry programs. The project was funded through the Second Chance Act, a 2008 law that makes available federal grants to government and nonprofit entities to provide housing, employment, and other services to previously incarcerated individuals in the hope of reducing recidivism. Follow Us on Twitter! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Follow @SaferFoundation on Twitter for more updates on criminal justice news and more information about the organization. We appreciate your support!  Public Policy and External Relations Contacts ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ B. Diane Williams, President / CEO Veronica Cunningham, Vice President, Public Policy and External Relations Jon Kaplan, Director, Marketing and Communication Anthony Lowery, Director, Policy and Advocacy phone: 312-922-2200 www.saferfoundation.org ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ * Many articles refer to people with criminal records as "ex-offenders" or "offenders". While we appreciate all the positive press these issues receive, we are working to use other terms to describe our clients that do not carry such negative connotations. These terms include "people with criminal records" or "people reentering society".