Craig, some may think the move towards early release of non-violent criminals is solely political, but both right and left are concerned with the skyrocketing costs of incarceration and the burden on state budgets. A few years ago Texas, hardly the bastion of liberal thinking regarding criminal justice, moved towards more intensive probation supervision of non-violent felons rather than incarceration. The cost savings was about 1/4th to 1/5th of what it would cost for imprisonment. From what I recall reading about the movement, recidivism rates were surprisingly lower. Gil