Monthly journalism award.

• Author: Kurkjian, Stephen
• Position: The Washington Monthly's

"State's Toughened Policy has Downside" The Boston Globe January 25,2004

Kurkjian documents an issue that few reporters have yet paid attention to, the legacy of Massachusetts Gov. William Weld's get-tough crime policies of the 1990s:The flood of inmates who have served out their lengthy, usually drug-related, sentences and are being released has overwhelmed the capacity of the parole system and prisoner rehabilitation programs to handle them. The story warns other states, which can expect similar mass releases of felons in coming years to beef up their ability to police paroles. Otherwise, Kurkjian warns, they might see situations like in Massachusetts, which is currently returning prisoners to the streets at a rate three times the national average often with "little or no" parole supervision."Many," Kurkjian writes,"swiftly reoffend."

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