Downsizing Prisons How to Reduce Crime and End Mass Incarceration [Hardcover]

Over two million people are incarcerated in America’s prisons and jails, eight times as many since 1975. Mandatory minimum sentencing, parole agencies intent on sending people back to prison, three-strike laws, for-profit prisons, and other changes in the legal system have contributed to this spectacular rise of the general prison population.

After overseeing the largest city jail system in the country, Michael Jacobson knows first-hand the inner workings of the corrections system. InDownsizing Prisons, he convincingly argues that mass incarceration will not, as many have claimed, reduce crime nor create more public safety. Simply put, throwing away the key is not the answer.

“Should be read by the public and used by policy makers. Essential.”
-Choice

“Downsizing Prisonsoffers an innovative approach to reducing the strain on America’s overcrowded prisons: namely, by fixing the dysfunctional parole systems in states around the country. . . . Jacobson’s book comes at exactly the right time.”

“Policy wonks, journalists, elected officials and students of criminal justice will find the arguments and data in this book worth grappling with.”
-New York Newsday

“Downsizing Prisonsis an excellent, well-documented, and well-referenced case study. Jacobson is a seasoned policy practitioner who understands the fit of partisan, policy, and system politics. He has hands-on experience, understands what works, and knows first-hand the dysfunctional impacts of higher incarceration rates. He argues for more rational and effective cost-control approaches to crime control.”