Missouri's state prisons are overcrowded and the State Supreme Court has ordered the state to remedy this problem. Missouri passed a pair of reforms this session. The ACLU has worked for several years to lay the groundwork for a sizable reform that would reduce the disparity of sentences for crack and powder cocaine offenses. The law signed will now reduce the disparity for comparable offenses. Gov. Jay Nixon decided to sign house bill 1525, which would send fewer people to prison for technical violations of probation and parole, which has missed meeting or failed drug test. (www.aclu.org) .
House Bill 1525, which Gov. Jay Nixon signed into law July 6, establishes strategies for dropping parole and probation for certain offenses by requiring the division of corrections to award earned good behavior. Now although the new bill shall bring some great aspects towards prison overcrowding, there are in fact some negative aspects as well. Overall though, I honestly think that we as a society shall look at what outcome would be good for the general public.
When analyzing this situation, I would have to agree with the state on the new bill that has been signed by Gov. Jay Nixon. The new law reduces probation and parole by thirty days for each full month the offender stays in fulfillment with the terms of his or her supervision. So instead of throwing a drug addict into prison, they would now under the new law be able to be either on probation or thrown into a state jail. In my opinion a crime is a crime. Whether or not you smoke illegally or commit murder, a crime is a crime. I do in fact believe that a drug addict shall be placed in prison for an extensive amount of time or even for the same amount of time as a murderer. Over crowding prisons with non violent offenders really eliminates space for future violent offenders.
One ramification of overcrowding is double-celling, which is why it is a serious concern in Missouri.
