Bipartisan success possible

 Editorial by Durham Herald-Sun, November 17, 2014.

Given the partisan rancor in the past couple of General Assembly sessions, it may be hard to remember that the state’s elected leaders do know how to forge bipartisan solutions.

Gary Robertson of the Associated Press recounted just such a success in a story The Herald-Sun published Monday.  He described a deal reached in 2011 by the legislature, then in control of Republicans, and Democratic Gov. Beverly Perdue.  It led to the “Justice Reinvestment Act,” which was, as Robertson put it, “designed to address the state’s soaring prison population and budget, high recidivism rates and thin behavioral treatment programs for offenders.”

The result?  Here’s what the Justice Center report had to say:

“Since North Carolina passed the Justice Reinvestment Act in 2011, the state has reduced the prison population by 8 percent, closed 10 prisons, saved or averted an estimated $560 million in costs, funded 175 probation officer positions, increased the number of people released from prison who receive post-release supervision, and reduced probation revocations significantly, all while experiencing a decrease in crime of 11 percent.”

A key part of the change is to provide more intensive supervision for inmates released on probation – many of whom have historically ended up fairly quickly back behind prison bars. That appears to be succeeding. Three years ago, more than half of all the folks who ended up in prison were there because their probations were revoked.  Today, only about one in three incarcerations is for probation violations.

“We at BJA are proud of the tremendous results state stakeholders have accomplished in a short time,” the center’s report said. “System-wide change takes time,” it noted. “But by investing in the framework for reform through JRI, North Carolinians will experience the long-term cost savings and public safety benefits for years to come. Certainly, North Carolina will strive to continue to make its criminal justice system more effective and to make the state a safer place to live.”

There are skeptics.  The American Civil Liberties Union and others in a 2013 report questioned whether the reforms really were reducing the prison population, noting that some offenders were being diverted to county jails from the state prison system.  Those shifts and longer sentences for repeat breaking-and-entering offenders suggest to the ACLU that the decreases may not be sustainable, the AP reported.

But on balance, indications are that the reforms are having a positive impact. And the bipartisan approval – which the Justice Center and Pew Charitable Trusts insisted on –remains a hallmark of what officials can do when they reach across the aisle to solve problems.

It’s an example we hope is not lost on our leaders as another legislative session begins early next year.

http://www.heraldsun.com/opinion/editorials/x761892072/Bipartisan-success-possible