USA Today Op-Ed | Criminal Justice reform: We can improve expensive, ineffective system by lowering recidivism
In a USA Today op-ed, President Trump’s
son-in-law and senior advisor, Jared Kushner, and Council of Economic Advisors
member Tomas J. Philipson, discuss the economic benefits of criminal justice reform. The bipartisan First Step Act, which was introduced
last week and endorsed
by President Trump, seeks to lower the crime rate and the overall cost of
incarceration by ensuring that low-risk inmates bound for release are equipped
to successfully rejoin society rather than return to a life of crime.
“The
administration also worked with Congress to draft the FIRST STEP Act,
legislation which seeks to strengthen recidivism reduction and evidence-based
reentry programs for inmates in federal prisons. We continue to work with the
law enforcement and faith and business communities to find ways to get people
leaving prison properly reintegrated into society.
“While these
reforms have proven to reduce crime, they also lead to reductions in the costs
associated with corrections operations in general. The most damning fact about
the ineffectiveness of our current prison system is that only 24 percent of the
current federal prison population is being incarcerated for the first time. By
lowering the rate of recidivism, we can apply a broad-based approach to
preventing future crimes and cutting prison costs over time.”
Read the
full op-ed HERE.
More on the First Step Act:
-30-
