Margaret Newkirk spotlights state-level efforts in New Jersey and Georgia:
On Feb. 27, [Georgia's] GOP-led House of Representatives introduced legislation that calls for special courts to steer drug users into rehab, which [Republican Governor Nathan] Deal says is cheaper than a jail sentence. "We must focus on transforming our corrections system into … a place where low-level offenders are reclaimed and restored to society as functioning members of the community, working to support their own families, and paying taxes," Deal said last month in a speech to state lawmakers. Lose the point about taxes and you’re left with an argument liberals made for years.
Reihan complicates this narrative:
In suggesting that conservatives are merely catching up with liberals on this front, Newkirk misses an important point that Matt Glazek of n+1 has raised, namely that the incarceration boom was driven by Rockefeller Republicans and centrist Democrats. The distinctive role evangelical conservatives have played in prison reform efforts shouldn’t be discounted.
Previous Dish on conservatives and criminal justice reform here.
The Dish 