Downsizing Prisons: How to Reduce Crime and End Mass Incarceration

Rethinking punishment: How to shrink prisons while boosting public safety.”

 Summary

In Downsizing Prisons, former New York City corrections commissioner and criminal justice reform veteran Michael Jacobson offers a powerful, evidence-backed strategy to address mass incarceration. Published by New York University Press, this 292-page volume (hardcover, 2005; paperback, 2006) blends real-world case studies with policy insights to propose a correctional shift that neither compromises public safety nor strains state budgets.

Jacobson demonstrates that prison growth doesn’t reliably reduce crime, and highlights how racial and socioeconomic bias skews sentencing. Through the lens of reforms in states like New York, Connecticut, California, and Louisiana, he details proven approaches—such as reforming probation and parole systems, reducing punitive sentencing for parole violations, and expanding community-based supervision and drug treatment programs—that lower incarceration rates while preserving public security

This book is essential for policymakers, criminal justice professionals, and advocates looking for practical, data-driven solutions to scale back the prison system without compromising safety or justice.