How tough-on-crime Texas lowered its prison population and what Oklahoma can learn from it


In 2007, Texas prisons were near capacity and half a billion dollars was needed to build three new prisons. Instead, the state became a model for conservative-led criminal sentencing reform by changing a host of laws to send many fewer people to prison in the first place. By spending half of the savings on drug and alcohol treatment, among other services, the state focused on solving people's underlying problems rather than always punishing behavior after the fact.

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