Louisiana has the highest rate of imprisonment of every state in the U.S., which is currently the global leader in the number (2.3 million nationwide), rate (737 per 100,000 people) and percentage (3.1 percent) of incarcerated people.One in every 32 American adults are under supervision — which includes probation, jail, prison and parole — according to the American Correctional Association.Louisiana holds more than 100,000 of these adults. This rate is 21 percent higher than the national average and amounts to a population roughly equivalent to the city of Marrero.The increase in the prison population is obvious. But has this increase been linked to an increase in public safety, and is there a causal relationship there? For more than three decades, there has been a continuous rise in the number of U.S. inmates, according to the Bureau of Justice Statistics. But the Sentencing Project claims this growth has been coupled with a sustained decline in national crime rates.However, many of the aforementioned numbers can be deceiving because all prisoners and sentences are different.For example, 55 percent of federal prisoners are drug offenders while only 11 percent are violent offenders. Of the other 89 percent — the non-violent portion — repeat offenders in this category make up more than half of the incarcerated population.The nation also houses an aging prison population because today’s prisoners carry longer sentences.So how much of the decrease in national crime rates can be attributed to prison expansion?The increase in sentences reflects the failure of America’s War on Drugs. As drug arrests and mandatory minimum sentences increase, so do the lengths of prison terms.This population growth has been attributed largely to tougher sentencing since the 1980s, according to The Washington Post.The general assumption here is more imprisonment translates into more crime reduction. But The Post suggests this effect may have little to do with tougher sentencing.The nation must search for solutions that don’t jeopardize public safety or induce a dystopian Foucaltian nightmare upon the world.Basing her assumption on a 2005 report from the Corrections Corporation of America, AlterNet’s Liliana Segura noted the adverse effect incurred by those who profit from the prison industry. Segura then implied the prison boom produced strong incentives to sustain the growing prison population.Short of heralding the advent of some disguised panopticon in the making, notice must be given to “the veritable elephant in the room,” as Segura put it.Pew Center research estimates the prison system costs the states $50 billion per year and $5 billion at the federal level. The ACLU estimates Louisiana spends up to $20,000 per year per prisoner.The need for prison reform comes just as the nation faces a daunting economic crisis and, more specifically, as Louisiana faces enormous budget challenges.What’s worse — the Senate just cut $1 billion headed for Louisiana from the $838 billion economic stimulus package.Earlier this month, the forecasted budget announced for Louisiana’s corrections services in Fiscal Year 08-09 totalled $490 million — a $90 million increase in spending in just more than 2 years, according to Gambit Weekly.But the financial winds have changed since the February forecast.The Pelican State now faces a $341 million deficit and a $2 billion shortfall this year.The enormous cost of maintaining the state prison system hampers spending in other areas — including hurricane and economic recovery, education, health care and coastal restoration.Modern prisons may offer punishment and protection, but fail at one significant objective — rehabilitation. Given that today’s most popular prison reform proposal involves extending voting rights to felons but ignores human rights, one must question where prison reform will begin.The question remains as to how public officials can reform prison spending without risking public safety.Alternatives to current methods include contracting prison services to private businesses, easing sentencing laws, transferring mentally ill prisoners to mental health facilities, changing drug laws and implementing less expensive punishments.This doesn’t even begin to address recidivism or Louisiana’s prison capacity, much less the treatment of prisoners specifically. In his book “Comeback,” conservative author David Frum called for a nonpartisan approach to prison reform. Frum suggested because Republican policies are mostly responsible for the growth in America’s prison population, they bear a larger share of responsibility in ensuring prisons meet standards of basic decency.To sustain the political support and moral justification for tough prison policies, “… we must accept the obligation to ameliorate that harshness and ugliness to the extent we can,” Frum wrote.Despite Republican claims to be the party of law and order and the Democratic claim as the party of human rights and progress, there has been virtually no bipartisan response.As a result, politicians want to appear tough on crime but rarely fight for quality policies. If the measure of American society were determined by the treatment of its prisoners, the states would be in for a rude awakening.The nation must meet these standards according to its basic principles — which give us the moral authority to deliver justice to all. We cannot stand true to our principles while violating human rights.Because if we don’t stand by our principles, we are hypocrites. And if we don’t stand by our principles, then we stand for nothing.—-Contact Daniel Lumetta at [email protected]