Douglas Carswell of the Mississippi Center for Public Policy is good at setting up straw men to boost his arguments.
The head of the conservative think tank did so to make his case against Medicaid expansion. He’s done it again in a recent opinion column critical of bipartisan efforts to reduce Mississippi’s high rate of incarceration.
Carswell claims that declines in incarceration have corresponded with an increase in violent crimes, including murder. Even if his statistics are accurate, they are being used in a misleading way.
Contrary to what Carswell suggests, few in the criminal justice reform movement are arguing that violent criminals should not go to prison or should be turned out quickly.
Instead most reformers focus on nonviolent offenders, especially those whose crimes are rooted in drug addiction. These offenders can be more effectively rehabilitated — and for much less money — through drug courts and other alternatives to incarceration.
Using alternatives for those who pose no great risk to public safety actually should free up prison space for violent offenders and others who do.
