WEBB TO HOLD HEARING ON PRISON EXPLOSION
[We are seldom stunned by congressional hearing announcements, but this is one of the most hopeful ones we've seen in a long time]
SENATOR JIM WEBB (D-VA) will hold a Joint Economic Committee hearing to explore the economic consequences and causes of and solutions to the steep increase of the U.S. prison population. The hearing entitled, "Mass Incarceration in the United States: At What Cost?" - in light of 500 percent increase in prison populations in last 30 years - is scheduled for Thursday, October 4, 2007 at 10:00 am in Room 216 of the Hart Senate Office Building. The United States has 25 percent of the world's prisoners, despite having only 5 percent of the world's population. The JEC will examine why the United States has such a disproportionate share of the world's prison population, as well as ways to address this issue that responsibly balance public safety and the high social and economic costs of imprisonment. Expert witnesses have been asked to discuss the costs of maintaining a large prison system; the long-term labor market and social consequences of mass incarceration; whether the increase in the prison population correlates with decreases in crime; and what alternative sentencing strategies and post-prison re-entry programs have been most successful at reducing incarceration rates in states and local communities.