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Could smart prisoner release be a sound economic stimulus?

By Douglas A. Berman

The question of this post is prompted by this provocative new (and very timely) working paper recently appearing on SSRN. The piece is titled "Work Release as Economic Stimulus: Overview of Current and Potential Usage in the 50 States," and here is the abstract: Work release programs are authorized by the statutes of all fifty states.  Some states have clearly articulated work release programs while others are partial, with little statutory governance for their establishment or operation.  Yet most correctional authorities agree that work release provides crucial transitioning into functional re-entry.  As the recent crises in the California correctional system dramatized, overflowing systems can no longer be tolerated.  The contemporary penal climate, which prioritizes economic efficiency and evidence-based corrections, is ripe for a re-invigoration of a tried and true technique...continue to full post

Full post as published by Sentencing Law and Policy on August 26, 2009 (boomark / email).