A New Definition of "Tough on Crime"

"There's nothing tougher on crime, and better for public safety, than ensuring that people who get out of prison don't commit new crimes." --  Texas Senate Criminal Justice Committee Chairman John Whitmire, D-Houston

Texans should be hootin' and hollerin' over a new report from the Council of State Governments' Justice Center project, which shows that the state's recidivism rate has dropped by 22% between 2000 and 2007.

Pop quiz:  How did Texas do it?  

(a) Pass more mandatory minimum sentences

(b) Increase sentence lengths

(c) Build and fill more prisons  

(d) None of the above.

If you answered (d), you must be a faithful SentenceSpeak reader, because that is correct.

Texas got smart on crime with more treatment and rehabilitation -- and Chairman Whitmire is right:  there's nothing tougher on crime than being smart on crime.  (If only all lawmakers would adopt Chairman Whitmire's definition of "tough on crime"!) The real proof is in the pudding:  what reduces crime the most, at the least cost, with the best results for both offenders and communities, is what is tough on crime.  (Mandatory minimum sentences, by the way, fail all parts of that test.)

"The numbers are significant, but the real impact is fewer crime victims," said Senate Criminal Justice Committee Chairman John Whitmire, D-Houston, an architect of reforms starting in 2007 that greatly expanded rehabilitation and treatment programs. "For every person who doesn't go back to prison, there is one fewer crime, one fewer crime victim."

The report generally hails the dropping recidivism rates as proof that the emergence of additional rehabilitation and treatment programs is working, even as some criminologists note that the average age of offenders is rising — and older people tend to commit fewer crimes than younger ones.

"As policymakers are under tremendous pressure to cut spending wherever possible, Republican and Democratic elected officials alike have made the case that improved efforts to reduce reoffense rates among people released from prison would save money and increase public safety," the report states. "Many states are now presenting data that indicates declines in statewide recidivism rates."

Those other states:  Michigan, Kansas, Ohio, Vermont, Mississippi, Oregon.

Read the full report here.