Idaho has one of the highest incarceration rates in the country. We spend millions jailing Idahoans for years for non-violent offenses.
We need to pass federal prison rape recommendations opposed as "too expensive" by our state government. No one deserves to be raped. Start with an independent audit. During our private prison fiasco, we learned that prison officials should not audit themselves.
We should continue converting misdemeanors into civil infractions and fines to reduce court backlogs. Reducing misdemeanors means more people are can work, get scholarships, travel, or join the military. I remember the old days where if kids pushed over an outhouse they didn't go to jail, they had to clean it up! Our society is Obsessed with Punishment!. We can't lock up everyone who does something wrong. Nor can we give criminal records to everyone.
Revising mandatory sentencing guidelines is long overdue. One size never fits all situations. Let Idaho elected judges be judges, not robots. Many times a work service project is the best thing, especially for youthful offenders.
Abolish debtors prisons. Idaho charges room and board to inmates. Also Idaho routinely jails people unable to pay simple fines and court costs. Inmates have been released with room and board bills as high as $15,000. If they don't pay, the first step is that their driver's license is revoked! That makes no sense if we want them to work. If they still can't pay, it's back to jail. This is not rehab. It's medieval serfdom. Inmates should not be billed room and board like some cheap hotel.
Our war on drugs needs a total rework. We have filled our jails and prisons with minor users and addicts, not drug lords and kingpins. We need to restore common sense to common drug sentencing. Drug treatment programs and halfway houses are cheaper than prisons.
Non-violent offenders should be working at jobs. It costs us $55 a day to keep someone jailed, but only $60 a month to monitor outside and let them work. Our jails and prisons are FULL! Instead of sending inmates thousands of miles away, to other private prisons they should be here, working on becoming good citizens where their families can visit them. Their children need to see their parents working, not sitting idly in jail. They need a good role model.
End private prisons FOREVER. We finally proved they cannot be trusted. WE STILL HAVE 250 people in a private prison in Colorado. Stop sending offenders out of state. They need to be near families for visits and the courts for hearings.
Stop jailing the mentally ill. Idaho makes a practice of housing mentally ill people in prisons. Imagine if your son or daughter had autism behavior issues, and the judge decided to 'House' them at the prison for 5-10 years. It happens!