An estimated 19-hundred prisoners will be released today as part of the state’s criminal justice reform legislation enacted this year. The Edwards Administration says this will lower the highest incarceration rate in the country and produce better outcomes for non-violent offenders. Winn Parish Sheriff Cranford Jordan doesn’t see how releasing inmates will lead to better public safety.
Jordan says the system is flawed from the start. He says Louisiana needs to take a cue from Texas and begin rehabilitation before prisoners are released
Non-violent offenders will be allowed to be released after serving 35 percent of their sentence under the new law, but they will still be monitored according to Department of Public Safety and Corrections Secretary Jimmy LeBlanc.
It is estimated the reform effort will reduce the state’s prison population by ten percent over ten years. LeBlanc says many parish jail inmates are released without additional education or skills. He says this reform will help in that regard as programs will be put into place to help released inmates stay out of jail.
It is estimated the new program will save the state 262-million-dollars annually, with 70-percent of that money to be reinvested into training and prisoner rehabilitation programs.