What is smart justice?

Smart justice looks at each offender as an individual and considers proper treatment over immediate imprisonment. It emphasizes rehabilitation over incarceration, so those that go into the system come out reformed, rather than contributing to high recidivism rates. In order to do this, reform reviews like the U.S. Department of Justice's, recommend prioritizing prosecutions to cover more serious cases first, reforming sentences to reduce mandatory minimums and increasing the use of alternatives such as drug courts.

tECHNIQUES

• Get rid of mandatory minimums, especially for non-violent crimes & low level drug offenses
• Prioritize prosecutions to focus on most serious cases firstImprove programs for reentry into society
• More utilization of drug courts & other alternative court systems
• Decrease the amount of inmates

STATISTICS

• According to the organization Families Against Mandatory Minimums (FAMM), most drug possession offenses are punishable by at least 3 years in prison. For example, a person found in possession of at least 28 grams of cocaine is punishable by at least 3 years in prison and a $50,000 fine.
• In support of drug courts: 80% of offenders abuse alcohol/drugs
• 50% of inmates are clinically addicted
• 30% of people that enter FL prisons did so for drug offenses (FAMM)
• Imprisonment has little to no effect on drug abuse (National Assoc. Of Drug Court Professionals)
• Only 3% of $2.4 billion budget (FL) goes toward inmate programming
• 60% of drug offenders commit a new crime after release from prison
• 95% of drug offenders return to drug abuse after imprisonment