A new initiative that would create mandatory sentences for drug and property crimes will translate into three new prisons and 4,000 to 6,000 more Oregonians in prison if it passes. These numbers and a $400 million dollar price tag for new prison construction were presented at an October meeting of the Oregon Criminal Justice Commission.

The initiative is sponsored by Kevin Mannix who was the author of Measure 11. While the initiative has not been officially cleared for the ballot, Mannix is believed to have enough signatures to qualify.

As the result of Mannix’s Measure 11, Oregon incarcerates over 13,000 people, has been on an expensive prison building spree since the late 1990s, and just opened its newest prison in Madras.

This news brief is based on a story in the Salem Statesman Journal, Study: Mannix measure could mean three more Oregon prisons [1]. If the link is broken, check the newspaper’s web site.