Project for Opportunity and Safety

SB 91 will cut prison population, help crime-reduction programs

I applaud Sen. Dan Sullivan for his endorsement of the Sentencing Reform and Corrections Act this past April.

This bipartisan legislation will reform the mandatory minimum sentences that have made prison stays longer and costlier but done little to prevent people from re-offending. Alaska’s prison system has long been equally ineffective. Reports show that two out of three prisoners return to prison or jail within three years. Our state is attempting to fix our ineffective criminal justice system with Senate Bill 91, which will reduce our prison population and reinvest those savings in treatment and reentry programs that have been proven to reduce crime.

Longer prison sentences do not deter crime. They do inflict heavy costs on taxpayers and communities. Thank you, Sen. Sullivan, for your support of smart, effective criminal justice policy. Please urge Sen. Mitch McConnell to bring the Sentencing Reform and Corrections Act to a vote.