May 23, 2019

The Honorable Jim Wheeler

Minority Leader
Nevada State Assembly
State Capitol Building, Room 3105
401 South Carson Street
Carson City, NV 89701

Re: Proposed Changes to Nevada Criminal Justice Policy

Dear Minority Leader Wheeler, and Members of the Nevada Assembly:

Over the past decade, states across the country have successfully reduced prison populations and corrections
spending, while improving public safety results. Just last year, the White House helped to develop and fought
for legislation based on similar concepts to reform the Federal justice system. Known as the First Step Act,
President Trump signed this bill into law in December. It is the most significant piece of criminal justice
reform legislation in more than a decade. Unfortunately, Nevada is going in the opposite direction. Since
2009, the prison population in the state has grown 7 percent, leaving Nevada with an incarceration rate that
is 15 percent higher than the national average. As a result, Nevada’s prisons have become dangerously
overcrowded, to the point where the population at several prisons now exceeds the state’s emergency
capacity.

Fortunately, this growth is not the result of a massive crime wave or Nevadans being more criminally-prone
than those in neighboring states. Rather the growth in admissions has largely been caused by a significant
increase in people returned to prison for minor technical violations while on probation or parole. Other
drivers of Nevada’s increasing incarceration rate include a troubling expansion of the female prison
population and substantial growth in the duration of prison sentences. This has come with a heavy price tag
for Nevada’s taxpayers – $347 million in fiscal year 2019 – while not enhancing public safety.

Without legislative action, the problem will only intensify. Nevada is projected a 9 percent increase in their
prison population, costing taxpayers an additional $770 million over the next decade. As such, the current
track is simply not sustainable.

Understanding the magnitude of doing nothing, former Governor Sandoval charged the Nevada Advisory
Commission on the Administration of Justice (ACAJ) to address these problems by using research and
evidence to develop comprehensive crime and recidivism reduction policies.
May 23, 2019
Letter to Nevada Legislature
Page 2

The Commission’s recommendations included focusing resources on truly violent and dangerous individuals,
improving the efficiency and effectiveness of community supervision, and preparing inmates for a successful
reentry back into their communities. The amended package being considered would save the state of Nevada
roughly $550 million in taxpayer dollars. But more importantly, these reforms reinforce the values of
increasing public safety, achieving fiscal discipline, and restoring human dignity.

Many of the recommendations mirror reforms proven successful in states like Texas, Georgia, South
Carolina, Mississippi, and Utah. In each of these jurisdictions, state corrections officials saw a reduction in
incarceration rates. A portion of the cost savings was then allocated to anti-recidivism programming and
community-based treatment. The results in each of the states has been lower crime rates and fewer cases of
ex-offenders falling back into crime.

Barring legislative action, Nevada’s families and taxpayers will continue to be burdened by an ineffective and
overbearing justice system. The ACAJ determined that a majority of those entering prison each year in
Nevada are nonviolent offenders. Many suffer from substance abuse, dependency, or mental illness. A better
approach is to focus resources on those people we are afraid of – those who are bona fide threats to public
safety – rather than those non-violent offenders we are merely mad at. Of course, those who break the law
should be held accountable. But there are other ways to sanction non-violent law breakers than long and
costly sentences in Nevada’s prisons.

By adopting the recommendations of the ACAJ, the Legislature can follow the lead of President Trump and
conservative states across the country, getting Nevada’s justice system back on a sustainable track. We
strongly urge you to follow the path of the President by responsibly reducing the prison population while
protecting public safety, focusing resources on serious and violent offenders, and providing mental health and
substance use treatment to those in need in order for them to better reintegrate and become successful
citizens.

Sincerely,

David Safavian Grover Norquist

General Counsel President
American Conservative Union Americans for Tax Reform

Jason Pye Marc Levin

Vice President of Legislative Affairs Vice President, Criminal Justice Policy
FreedomWorks Right on Crime

Arthur Rizer Patrick D. Purtill, Jr.

Director, Criminal Justice & Civil Liberties Director of Legislative Affairs
R Street Institute Faith & Freedom Coalition