"A massive review of the evidence shows letting people out of prison doesn’t increase crime"

From Vox, via NACDL news scan:

“I estimate, that at typical policy margins in the United States today, decarceration has zero net impact on crime,” Roodman wrote in a blog post. “That estimate is uncertain, but at least as much evidence suggests that decarceration reduces crime as increases it. The crux of the matter is that tougher sentences hardly deter crime, and that while imprisoning people temporarily stops them from committing crime outside prison walls, it also tends to increase their criminality after release. As a result, ‘tough-on-crime’ initiatives can reduce crime in the short run but cause offsetting harm in the long run.”

This isn’t the first major analysis to find incarceration has little or no effect on crime; other researchers and studies estimate that since the 1990s, more incarceration contributed to anywhere from 0 to 25 percent of the drop in crime. But Roodman’s analysis is one of the most extensive reviews I have seen.