Read more
Chattanooga police chief with group in Washington calling for end to 'mass incarceration'
Justice reform is no longer a term whispered only by those considered soft on crime.
Oh, those who would open the prisons and slap the hands of felons are still around, but the discussion has moved into the more mature realm of sentencing alternatives for those with mental health and drug addiction problems, of reclassifying some crimes, and for generally using prisons for more serious offenders.
It is an issue embraced by those usually partial to the accused and those usually partial to the accusers. It is embraced by Democrats and Republicans.
Chattanooga Police Chief Fred Fletcher is one of 130 top law enforcement officials from across the country who is part of a new group that wants to end "mass incarceration" while maintaining public safety. In fact, leaders of the group, Law Enforcement Leaders to Reduce Crime and Incarceration, met with President Obama Thursday.
Obama himself has called for reduced prison sentences and alternatives to incarceration for nonviolent offenders, while Tennessee Commissioner of Safety and Homeland Security Bill Gibbons has said there is a consensus among members of the Task Force on Sentencing and Recidivism "that we need to make smart use of our prisons by using them for the more serious offenders, we need to be smart in coming up with effective alternatives for the less serious offenders and we really need to do a better job in reducing the number of repeat offenders."
The devil, of course, will be in the details because the public is more fearful than ever of home invasions, of drive-by shootings and of drug-fueled crimes. Yet, they understand the U.S. prison population is the largest in the world and its per-capita incarceration rate is the second highest in the world. They've also seen people given light sentences for serious crimes and stiff sentences for lighter crimes.
There must be a better way.