Two Democrat lawmakers have introduced legislation aimed at reducing the population of incarcerated individuals in the country while also providing grants to states that achieve such objectives.
The “Smart Sentencing Adjustments Act” would provide states with funds to study the drivers of incarceration and reduce prison populations. States that demonstrate a 20 percent reduction in their prison population over a three-year period will be granted $2 billion over 10 years, according to an April 27 press release of the legislation introduced by Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) and Rep. Tony Cardenas (D-Calif.).
The Smart Sentencing Adjustments Act seeks to “prohibit states from enacting overly punitive sentencing laws that do not have evidence-based effects on crime, such as mandatory minimum rules or truth-in-sentencing statutes, during the grant period.”…