During his State of the State speech in Phoenix Monday, Gov. Doug Ducey expressed interest in prison sentencing reform, and reducing the state’s prison population.
Ducey, who’s starting his second year in office, didn’t provide much detail, except that he would like to create a panel of substance abuse experts to look into drug abuse treatment—perhaps as an alternative to prison or jail time for people facing nonviolent drug convictions? Pima County has a program that’s had much success in giving people second chances, and keeping jail beds from overflowing.
The Tucson-based prison reform advocacy group American Friends Service Committee applauded what they called the “governor’s openness to discuss these issues.”
AFSC Program Director Caroline Isaacs issued this statement:
AFSC has worked tirelessly for the last 15 years to promote evidence-based alternatives to incarceration with the state’s leadership, and is pleased to see progress being made.
The Governor’s leadership on sentencing reform is courageous and timely. Everyone knows that constant prison expansion is not only unsustainable, it is also not producing a proportional increase in public safety.
The group now calls on the Governor and state legislature to nix plans for funding 1,000 more private prison beds through a new contract with Corrections Corporation of America, and to deny the Department of Corrections’ request for permission to bid out an additional 2,500 beds.
The requested beds simply will not be needed. In addition to the Governor’s plan, there are bills ready to be introduced this session that would cut the prison population substantially, eliminating the need to commit the state to another costly 20-year contract with a for-profit prison corporation.
The majority of other states, including those with conservative leadership, have proven that evidence-based sentencing reform can cut prison costs and produce greater gains in crime and recidivism reduction. We hope this is the beginning of a constructive dialogue about safely reducing prison populations and we look forward to sharing ideas with our state leadership.
This article appears in Jan 7-13, 2016.
How many of these offences are MARIJUANA RELATED?
This is a step and to think ” Legalize Like Alcohol ” the legalization of marijuana movement wants no post reconsiderations. In fact they want more felony’s and prison time associated time for people who grow a few plants or sell it. To protect business interest a new regulatory agency that goes right to the cash register and can change rules and attribute prison times at will. If a man brews some beer in his basement sells it to his adult neighbor he would be guilty of a misdemeanor not a heavy felony.
Do we really need another rule agency ? Just and only Maricopa County prosecutes every first time simple possession case as a felony. This is allowed by the state constitution prosecutorial discretion. This is done to force a plea or lose all civil rights a person would be less than an illegal immigrant for posessing a small amount. Pay $300.00 to a medical professional get a card go free?
If they brought marijuana price down I would bet that the largest part of the illegal drug market would crumble. AS would funding for enforcement so would court funding, prison funding. Building new regulatory agency that promotes use diminishes oversight and counseling now in place by the Medical Marijuana Program.
AZDHS MMJ program needs works not a Marijuana promoting tax collecting, police enforcing, license discretion imposing, drug testing, industrial agriculture market imposing (HEMP), change of the title 13 criminal code, court burdened, probation burdened, prison burdened just to name a few.
Colorado has released studies extrapolated by the Depart of Revenue. The title says it all ” MARKET SIZE AND DEMAND
FOR MARIJUANA IN COLORADO”
https://www.colorado.gov/pacific/sites/default/files/Market%20Size%20and%20Demand%20Study,%20July%209,%202014%5B1%5D.pdf
In this study it found that 13.6% of the population used cannabis & relate products. Of the users of Cannabis 29.4% of the users consumed 87% of the cannabis leaving 11% to tourist novelty a non sustainable market. In AZ with 6.7million population and 13.6% users about 97.000 WOW that’s close to the number of medical marijuana cards so its working we don’t need a new agency. To put more people in prison. It appears that the users are collecting around the medical program lets enhance that a little more training and oversight of the medical people might help.
I hope that Gov. Doug Ducey is not going start acting like our stupid president Obama and start letting out felons then blaming guns. Don’t want to be in prison don’t break the law.
well Clifford we are all glad you are willing to pay the price for other people making bad ,decisions,,