Justice reinvestment bill clears Senate committee unanimously

After strong support from sheriffs, prosecutors, the courts and more, and lots of questions from lawmakers, the justice reinvestment bill, SB 1357 , has won unanimous support from the Senate Judiciary Committee and is headed to the full Senate. The bill, which grew out of a study by the Council of State Governments’ Justice Center and the Pew Trusts, is aimed at reducing Idaho’s high incarceration and recidivism rates, while maintaining its low crime rates; it includes reforms to probation and parole supervision, more investment in treatment, and other changes. The study found that Idaho keeps non-violent offenders behind bars for twice as long as the rest of the country; by investing in these changes, the hope is to reserve prison space for the most dangerous offenders and help push the less dangerous ones to reform and not reoffend - and save millions by not having to build a new state prison.

There’s more information online here .