Kevin Reitz discusses the Model Penal Code: Sentencing project and how it tackles the problem of correctional overcrowding, not just in prisons, but in all criminal sanctions.

“The current draft gives states the option of creating mechanisms that are in place to deal with these problems on an ongoing basis. Instead of waiting for an emergency, you have ongoing mechanisms to deal with overcrowding that allows you to look at your prisons and jails if you’re well over capacity, and ask questions about who can safely be released, which sentences can safely be reduced so that we, in fact, can incarcerate the people who need to be incarcerated for public protection… In probation and parole, we create the same kind of mechanisms.”

Watch the full video above.

Kevin Reitz

Reporter, Model Penal Code: Sentencing

Kevin Reitz is the James Annenberg La Vea Land Grant Chair in Criminal Procedure Law at the University of Minnesota Law School. In 1993, he organized the pilot meeting of the National Association of Sentencing Commissions, which has gone on to become a nationwide resource for states contemplating or undertaking the process of sentencing reform. He continues to work with NASC and with state sentencing commissions nationwide.

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