15 Years of Measure 11 No Cause for Celebration

April 19, 2010

15 Years of Measure 11 No Cause for Celebration

PORTLAND, Ore. - Last week was the anniversary of Oregon's Measure 11 mandatory sentencing law, but not everyone saw it as cause for celebration. A recent report ("Prison Count 2010," by the Pew Center on the States) showed a nationwide drop in the number of people in state prisons for the first time in almost 40 years, with a decrease in the incarceration rate seen in 27 states - but Oregon was not one of them.

Denise Welch, communications director for the Partnership for Safety and Justice, says Measure 11 has helped put more people behind bars, but the state should be looking for ways to improve public safety and lower prison populations at the same time.

"State legislatures have recognized that prison spending has skyrocketed over the past two decades. The cost of incarceration nationwide is now over $50 billion annually and consumes one in every five discretionary dollars in state budgets."

She notes that the Oregon legislature has begun to take steps toward reducing prison spending and populations, but there is still more to learn from the successes of other states. For instance, she says, states with lower prison populations use a variety of measures proven to be effective at both reducing the incarceration rate and maintaining public safety.

"Some of those strategies include use of controlled early release of low-risk prisoners, increased use of appropriate community supervision and effective alternatives to incarceration, like drug courts."

Reducing the prison population means more money in state coffers to fund other critical services, such as police, health care and schools, she adds.

The report is available at www.pewcenteronthestates.org.

(This is the printed version of the radio spot which was carried by 46 stations statewide and picked up by 3 other media outlets. It can also be viewed and listened to at http://www.publicnewsservice.org/ index.php?/content/article/13506-1)