Miss. leaders examine ways to reduce prison costs
Mississippi leaders on Wednesday pledged bipartisan cooperation to make the state’s criminal justice system more effective and less expensive.
Republican Gov. Phil Bryant and Democratic Attorney General Jim Hood said the state needs to ensure violent offenders serve enough time. But they also said that’s not enough: The state also needs to make sure inmates have job skills before leaving prison so they’ll be less likely to get in trouble and return.
“Mississippi needs to be the worst place in America to be a violent offender but perhaps the best place to get a second chance,” Bryant told about 200 law enforcement agents, prosecutors, judges and legislators at a public safety summit he hosted at a hotel in downtown Jackson.
Hood said Mississippi needs to take a long-term approach to reducing crime by focusing on early childhood education.
AP
10/30/13
Magnolia Tribune
