New Mexico Bucking National Prison Trend – Not Good News
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March 18, 2010
SANTA FE - A yearly tally of state prison populations shows that, nationwide, numbers are lower than the previous year for the first time since 1972 - but not in New Mexico. The number of inmates in state prisons at the beginning of this year was 0.4 percent lower nationally than in 2009; about 5,000 less for a total of around 1.4 million. But New Mexico's state prison population rose almost three percent over last year.
Adam Gelb, director of the Public Safety Performance Project for the Pew Center on the States, which issued the report, says New Mexico should do more to emulate some of the practices of neighboring states.
"Three years ago, Texas, Arizona, Nevada - a whole host of other states - started to look at this, to roll up their sleeves, dig into the data and find that prisons were not the only answer to this problem. In fact, they're the most-expensive."
The tendency is to believe New Mexico's incarceration rate is due to the high level of poverty or other demographic factors, says Gelb, while it's more complex.
"It really is significantly a function of the decisions that are made by legislators, governors, parole boards and the courts about who they send to prison and for how long."
Some of the nationwide reductions may be tied to budget cuts, according to the report, which shows many states are experimenting with other ways to increase public safety while reducing prison populations and expenses, including a greater focus on rehabilitation. The report also notes that federal prison populations have continued to rise.
The full report is at www.pewtrusts.org/news_room_detail.aspx?id=57795.