As the Louisiana Legislature convenes a special session on crime on Monday, several policy research groups warned lawmakers to base their decisions on actual crime data rather than gut feelings or anecdotes.
Reset Louisiana is a coalition that includes three bipartisan organizations: the Council for the Improvement of Louisiana (CABL), the Louisiana Public Affairs Research Council (PAR), and the Committee of 100. news release That’s it Monday morning.
Even the conservative group Right on Crime reflected Reset’s position in its own way. statement.
The group told lawmakers that a bipartisan criminal justice reform package known as the Justice Reinvestment Initiative, approved in 2017, would reduce prison populations by diverting nonviolent offenders into alternative correctional programs. requested that it not be abolished.
“Some have blamed these reforms for the rise in crime following the COVID-19 outbreak,” Reset’s news release said. “To believe this, you would have to ignore the fact that crime increased across the country during and after the COVID-19 outbreak, causing widespread social and economic disruption. Moving away from the pandemic As a result, violent crime rates have already begun to decline in Louisiana and other states.”
Gov. Jeff Landry’s special legislative session agenda is focused on rolling back the 2017 effort, and lawmakers have introduced a number of bills to accomplish that goal. In an address to lawmakers Monday, Landry said the state’s criminal justice system is “out of balance.”
The governor’s agenda includes: suggestion to make it more difficult for prisoners to obtain parole; law Eliminate the possibility that a prisoner’s sentence will be reduced due to good behavior.another invoice Regardless of whether the person is innocent or not, it will be more difficult to appeal a conviction.
“Crime is spiraling out of control across Louisiana,” House Speaker Philippe de Villiers said in a statement Monday. “This session, we will focus on victims, not criminals, to make our state a better and safer place. Our people will be at peace in their cities, towns, communities, and homes. They have a right to live. They must be able to trust in the rule of law.”
According to Reset, Louisiana’s crime rate has decreased. A return to warehousing non-violent offenders would only increase the burden on state taxpayers and would not impact overall public safety, according to a news release from the coalition.
“Although there is little evidence that incarcerating offenders with longer sentences reduces crime and recidivism, it definitely costs taxpayers more and puts a greater strain on budgets,” they wrote. said.
A series of bills approved in 2017 saved the state about $153 million over about five years, according to the 2022 Justice Reinvestment Initiative Annual Performance Report.
Available statistics suggest that crime rates are declining across the country, but large gaps and limitations in crime data make it difficult for researchers to determine clear trends. The Louisiana State Legislative Auditor highlighted this issue: report Last week, it recommended legislation to improve the collection and sharing of criminal justice data.
“Louisiana does not have an agency that regularly compiles or analyzes data across all datasets to get a complete picture of criminal justice trends, so identifying overall trends within the criminal justice system. “This can be difficult,” the auditor’s report states.
new orleans and Baton Rouge Murder cases decreased significantly last year, but shreveport We saw a significant increase. At the same time, Shreveport’s overall violent crime rate decreased in 2023. In 2023, nationwide, Largest decline in a single year in number of murders.
“We cannot allow politics and short-term political wins to undermine the good work done in the 2017 JRI package,” said Louisiana Crime Victims Director Scott Payton. . “We have an opportunity to fix what needs to be improved and build on the successes that are clearly making a positive difference to our criminal justice system.”
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