Recidivism's Role in Mass Incarcerations

A big part of Hillary Clinton's campaign to woo the black vote is to end mass incarcerations; especially for black youth.  On her webpage titled "Criminal Justice Reform" she makes this comment:

What she doesn't seem to understand is that all too many criminals in this country are locked behind a revolving door.  Once released, the rearrest rate is very high.  Note these statistics from our National Institute of Justice:

• Within three years of release, about two-thirds (67.8 percent) of released prisoners were rearrested.
• Within five years of release, about three-quarters (76.6 percent) of released prisoners were rearrested.
• Of those prisoners who were rearrested, more than half (56.7 percent) were arrested by the end of the first year.
• Property offenders were the most likely to be rearrested, with 82.1 percent of released property offenders arrested for a new crime compared with 76.9 percent of drug offenders, 73.6 percent of public order offenders and 71.3 percent of violent offenders

Most of what contributes to such a high recidivism rate is the lack of any prisoner reform while incarcerated and, at the same time, joblessness when released.   Perhaps some crimes are over-charged, but the fact remains that the crimes were committed and some amount of time must be served.  If prisoners keep getting rearrested, the prison population will remain high.   At the same time, high rates of black unemployment and poverty are just as responsible for high crime rates among this racial group, and that has nothing to do with the criminal justice system.

Simply, much of the crime problem in this country could be solved with better jobs and better standards of living for those now locked in too many low-income and no-income ghettos.  Hillary Clinton has no solution for these realities and their impact on society; just as President Obama has not improved these critical aspects of black communities in this country.

References:

Criminal Justice Reform: https://www.hillaryclinton.com/issues/criminal-justice-reform/

Office of Justice Programs: National Institute of Justice: Recidivism: http://www.nij.gov/topics/corrections/recidivism/pages/welcome.aspx