NEWS RELEASE
www.ncsconline.org

Report: Evidence-Based Sentencing Cuts Costs, Reduces Crime

Williamsburg, VA (May 18, 2009) – A large and growing body of research shows that contrary to long-standing belief, proven methods do exist to change the behavior of felony offenders who are placed on probation, fined, or jailed in the communities. “Evidence-based sentencing and corrections practices do work and can reduce crime rates as effectively as prisons at much lower cost,” says Arming the Courts with Research: 10 Evidence-Based Sentencing Initiatives to Control Crime and Reduce Costs, a summary of the recently released research report by the Pew Center on the States and the National Center for State Courts (NCSC). The report is available here.

Recidivism rates among felony defendants are at unprecedented levels – nearly 60 percent have been previously convicted and more than 40 percent of those on probation fail to complete probation successfully, the report notes. Although the United States has the highest incarceration rate in the world, there are nearly three times more offenders on probation than in state prisons. The high recidivism rates increase state crime rates and greatly contribute to the escalating cost of state corrections.  

For years, “conventional wisdom has been that nothing works to change offender behavior,” the report says. Research now contradicts that theory. The report identifies 10 evidence-based sentencing strategies to help state courts reduce crime rates while conserving resources:

1. Establish recidivism reduction as an explicit sentencing goal
2. Provide courts with sufficient flexibility to consider recidivism reduction options
3. Base sentencing decisions on more reliable assessments of offenders’ risks and needs
4. Require community corrections programs to be evidence-based
5. Integrate services and sanctions
6. Ensure courts know about available sentencing options
7. Train court officers on evidence-based practice
8. Encourage swift and certain responses to violations of probation
9. Use court hearings and incentives to motivate offender behavior change
10. Promote effective collaboration among criminal justice agencies

The report was written by Roger K. Warren, president emeritus of the NCSC, for the Pew Center on the States’ Public Safety Performance Project. Launched in 2006 as a project of The Pew Center on the States, the Public Safety Performance Project seeks to help states advance fiscally sound, data-driven policies and practices in sentencing and corrections that protect public safety, hold offenders accountable and control corrections costs.

The National Center for State Courts, founded in 1971 in part by Chief Justice of the United States Warren E. Burger, provides leadership and service to the state courts through education, research, and consulting and technology services. The NCSC is headquartered in Williamsburg, VA, with offices in Denver; Arlington, VA; and Washington, D.C.

###

National Center for State Courts, 300 Newport Avenue, Williamsburg, VA  23185-4147