With the 2019 regular legislative session coming to a close this week, the Pelican Institute wants to take some time to reflect on the victories achieved and opportunities missed by lawmakers. This was an abbreviated legislative session and that, combined with rapidly approaching fall elections, made chances for the possibility of enacting transformational policy reforms...

This year we have a critical opportunity to advance criminal justice reform in Louisiana. In that effort, Smart on Crime Louisiana has combined efforts with Right on Crime Louisiana to advance a conservative, business-led approach to be both tough and smart on crime. Louisiana has the highest incarceration rate in the nation, costing taxpayers nearly $700 million per year with poor outcomes. Now is the time to act to reform our state's criminal justice system and invest in evidence-backed alternatives to incarceration for low risk offenders. Reinvestment reform packages have already passed in other states including Texas, Georgia, South Carolina, and Mississippi where they have effectively reduced imprisonment, saved billions, and increased public safety.

To free up funds, states pass measures that focus their prison beds on serious violent offenders, and reinvest a portion of the savings into evidence-backed prison alternatives.