Many states’ prisons are currently overcrowded and some states are under federal mandate to reduce their prison populations. Many cite overcrowding based on tougher sentencing laws and over legislation of habitual offenders and mandatory minimum statutes.

Questions for your response are 1) what do you think about whether legislators should have to conduct analyses of how prison populations might be affected with new laws or changes in punishment for certain offenses as well as what the estimated costs to taxpayers might be? 2) Do you think that these laws deter future offenders from engaging in certain criminal acts? Explain in detail why or why not.