Is prison most economical crime preventer?

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South Bend Tribune on 06/28/2015 by By Jeff Parrott

For decades, judges have been filling Indiana prisons with nonviolent offenders and drug users, with an emphasis on punishment.

Financially, it’s been costly, with prison overcrowding forcing the state to consider new prison construction, and it’s also proven to be ineffective at reducing recidivism rates.

“Imprisoning someone in a state prison is a very blunt instrument,” said Kate Williams, executive administrator of the St. Joseph County Community Corrections Advisory Board. “We’re hoping to do more targeted interventions because we’re spending so much money incarcerating people and not really getting the results.”

Under a new Indiana law that takes effect Wednesday, judges will no longer be allowed to sentence people convicted of the lowest-level felonies to prison. Instead judges, with a few exceptions, must send Level 6 felons to county jail, work release or home detention.