Some states releasing inmates early

Huge fiscal pressures are causing many to let thousands of felons go free
By Keith B. Richburg and Ashley Surdin

updated 2:23 a.m. ET, Mon., May. 5, 2008

NEW YORK - Reversing decades of tough-on-crime policies, including mandatory minimum prison sentences for some drug offenders, many cash-strapped states are embracing a view once dismissed as dangerously naive: It costs far less to let some felons go free than to keep them locked up.

It is a theory that has long been pushed by criminal justice advocates and liberal politicians -- that some felons, particularly those convicted of minor drug offenses, would be better served by treatment, parole or early release for good behavior. But the states' conversion to that view has less to do with a change of heart on crime than with stark fiscal realities. At a time of shrinking resources, prisons are eating up an increasing share of many state budgets.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24459394/