Photo by Brooke Thorington
Five years ago today (November 1st), much of Governor John Bel Edwards’ landmark legislation of Criminal Justice Reform and Justice Reinvestment went into effect. House Criminal Justice Chairman, Representative Joe Marino of Gretna said while it’s hard to tell how much the state has benefitted from reforms, due to the pandemic, he believes it’s made a positive impact.
“Our prison population is continuing to go down, we’re reinvesting the savings from a lower prison population and reinvesting in a variety of things that are truly beneficial to the state,” said Marino.
Of the $152 million savings, Marino said $45 million went to the general fund, $18 million to juvenile justice, almost $18 million to the Louisiana Commission on Law Enforcement, $26 million to reentry programs, and almost $44 million back to the Department of Corrections.
And while critics of Criminal Justice Reform say it’s the cause of the recent spike in crime in Louisiana. Marino said the reforms addressed how the state treats non-violent offenders.
“And how long we’re incarcerating non-violent offenders. It’s not apples and apples to say criminal justice reform has resulted in the release of people who are violent offenders because that didn’t happen,” said Marino.
When it comes to addressing the spike in juvenile crime, Marino said he thinks the legislature should pass similar reforms.
“I think it’s the next place we should maybe turn our attention to look at or take a comprehensive look at it the way we did back in 2017 with non-violent offenders,” said Marino.
Marino said the recidivism rate among criminals has also decreased and with parole officers having their caseloads reduced they are able to be more effective in redirecting offenders to a better path in life.
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