MARY LOUISE KELLY, HOST:
OK, some nonweather news - the U.S. prison population has been rising in recent years. That's after more than a decade of decline. As NPR's Meg Anderson reports, experts are warning the number of people in prisons may keep going up amid a growing shift among states toward tough-on-crime laws.
MEG ANDERSON, BYLINE: After George Floyd was murdered by a Minneapolis police officer in 2020, communities around the country took a hard look in the mirror. Many cities and states created new measures to curb police violence, scaled back long prison sentences and enacted bail reform. Rachel Barkow, a law professor at New York University says it was a turning point in the criminal justice reform movement.
RACHEL BARKOW: And I think There was a backlash to that.
ANDERSON: Around the same time, crime went up. Researchers stress that crime rates rise for complex reasons, but many voters blamed the reforms, and last year, at least half a dozen states stiffened punishments. Louisiana lowered the age someone can be tried as an adult from 18 to 17. Oregon recriminalized drugs it had decriminalized, and California tightened penalties it had loosened for certain theft and drug crimes. Research shows harsher punishments do not deter crime. But Barkow says they do have ripple effects, including increasing the prison population.
BARKOW: Every law that increases sentences or makes prison admissions more likely - all that stuff increases overcrowding. It's not as if prison officials can say, oh, we're full, you know? Like a motel - no vacancy.
ANDERSON: The prison population has gone up around 2% since 2022, and many prisons are already overcrowded and understaffed. That combination can lead to more violence, burnt out employees and worse health care for prisoners. Matthew Charles is with the group FAMM, a criminal justice reform nonprofit. He served more than 20 years in four different federal prisons. He says, medical appointments, education classes and family visits were all canceled when there weren't enough staff. In his experience...
MATTHEW CHARLES: We don't really believe in rehabilitation anymore. We just believe in incapacitation, meaning, we're going to warehouse you for a specific period of time, and we don't care if you get better or worse while you're behind bars.
ANDERSON: A Federal Bureau of Prisons spokesperson said in a statement, the agency is committed to quality medical care and a safe environment. Charles was released in 2019. Like him, most prisoners go home. So, he says, when they do, you want them to be productive members of their communities. Meg Anderson, NPR News. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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