Crime rates and Alaska criminal justice reform

Decades of research show that longer prison terms do not reduce crime rates or recidivism. Research also shows that that non-custodial sanctions are often equally effective—sometimes more effective—at reducing recidivism than incarceration. Provisions of SB91 include, but are not limited to, a focus on using prison beds for serious and violent offenders and diverting nonviolent misdemeanor offenders to alternatives; revising penalties to focus on the most severe punishments for higher level offenders; strengthening probation and parole supervision, and emphasizing swift, certain and proportional incentives to comply.