We do believe in the maxim that if you commit a crime, you do the time. And we do know that Mayor Rudy Giuliani reduced the crime rate dramatically in New York City by punishing even small crimes.

But here is the conundrum for our criminal justice system:

The most recent data available show that with more than 1.8 million Americans in jail or prison, the U.S. has one of the highest incarceration rates in the world.

At the same time, the U.S. has a shockingly high recidivism rate.

e

Roughly two of three people released from prison in 24 different states are rearrested within three years,  and 80% after five years.

If one of the goals of prison is to serve as a deterrent to committing future crimes – that strategy is a clear and tragic failure. Prison isn’t deterring crime and it isn’t rehabilitating young criminals. It’s creating a professional class of criminals. Those who are incarcerated are breaking bad.

Violent criminals need to be behind bars to protect the safety of citizens.

However, many are in jail for drug offenses. The conditions in American prisons are often cruel and do nothing to create functional citizens.

Trump should launch a program of prison reform so that we can give people who do bad things when they are young a second chance. One such program is Promising People, a program that provides real job training for convicts so they can turn away from crime and have a second chance in life.