The problems with the American legal system pictured in Gideons Army are also driving a concerning high national recidivism rate. According to the Pew Study cited by this article from a couple years ago, approximately 43% of inmates return to prison within 3 years of release. There are a number of moral objections that could be made here, but this statistic raises two practical worries. The first one is covered by the New York Times article: a high recidivism rate is leading to increasing correctional costs and draining state economies. The second one is more of a question: why is it acceptable to have a punitive system which is apparently failing to discourage crime? Part of the situation can be ascribed to severe penalties for minor infractions--especially for drug offenses--but this is only one manifestation of what Dawn Porter termed the cycle of incarceration. More broadly, the system as it is now is making it difficult for people to put their life back together after being processed, increasing the possibility of repeat offenses. Recidivism is even more likely considering that 70% of state prisoners and 56% of federal prisoners had an income of less than $2,000 in the month before being arrests. Attorney General Eric Holder himself stated last year that he wants to reform the criminal justice system and address high recidivism rates among other issues. justice.gov/opa/pr/2013/August/13-ag-948.html
Posted on: Sun, 09 Mar 2014 04:50:45 +0000
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