Project for Opportunity and Safety

Sentencing reform helps Utah families

Utahns pride themselves on family values and fiscal responsibility. Ironically, millions of Utahns’ tax dollars are spent to keep families apart.

That’s because over half of the U.S. prison population is comprised of nonviolent drug offenders. Mothers, fathers, daughters and sons who have been thrust into an institution that is often violent, hinders opportunity and encourages recidivism, not rehabilitation — a guillotine for the futures of the families affected and a multibillion-dollar burden for taxpayers.

Sen. Mike Lee agrees. As noted in the recent Tribune editorial, “Mike Lee can do bipartisan when he wants to,” the Utah senator advocated for S2123, the Sentencing and Reform Act of 2015, a bill that aims to stem the tide of recidivism, a staggeringly overpopulated prison system and billions of wasted tax dollars. Lee references his conservative Republican roots as inspiration to support the legislation. The senator says the bill addresses both human and budgetary issues, while pushing towards a positive congressional context of bipartisanship..

The next step for Lee, and his constituents, is to urge Sen. Orrin Hatch to support legislation, that, after a deeper look, is found to be rooted in family and conservative ideology — two themes that traditionally resonate with Utah voters.