Looking Back to See the Future of Prison Downsizing in America

NIJ Conference Keynote Address

The recent declines in U.S. prison populations have caused many reformers to suggest that America's experiment with mass incarceration is ending. But current prison downsizing policies may well backfire if we fail to heed the lessons learned from the intermediate sanctions movement of the 1990s. In the event attendees rated highest, Dr. Petersilia summarizes these lessons and discussed why we must consider them if we want to reverse — for good — four decades of prison expansion.