Mississippi’s prison population is growing rapidly. Building our way out of this crisis is not an option even in the most prosperous times. We can’t just change prisons; we have to change lives. We have a unique opportunity to address two
seemingly unrelated needs. We believe we have found a way to offer older Mississippians smaller, affordable homes of their own while driving down the number of offenders returning to our prisons by helping them change careers.
Inmates can learn advanced carpentry, wiring, and roofing skills inside the penitentiary fences by building low-cost, energy-efficient, quality homes designed with elderly Mississippians in mind for purchase and placement on their property
anywhere in Mississippi. Building homes for our parents and grandparents builds real opportunity for offenders and expands the pool of skilled workers for the future.
Source: State of the State Address to Mississippi legislature
Jan 4, 2001
Supports flexible federal block grants for crime programs.
Musgrove adopted the National Governors Association position paper:
The Issue
The major crime issues for the 107th Congress will be:
reauthorization of the juvenile justice program, which established a block grant to states for prevention and delinquency intervention programs;
reauthorization of programs in the 1994 crime bill, including the state criminal alien assistance program (SCAAP), a reimbursement program to state and local governments for housing illegal alien prisoners;
the state prison grants program, formally known as the Violent Offender Incarceration/Truth-in-Sentencing (VOI/TIS) grant program, [where states receive funds based on increasing the percentage of prison sentences actually served]; and
the Byrne block grant program, a flexible block grant that states use for innovative crime and illegal drug fighting programs.
NGA’s Position
NGA policy calls for reauthorization of the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act of 1974 (JJDPA)
and supports the underlying principles of the act. However, NGA wants some flexibility in the core requirements, e.g., allowing some accidental contact between adults and juveniles; expanding the hours before removal from 24 hours to 48 hours; holding certain incorrigible juveniles in detention; and relaxing the disproportionate minority confinement record keeping process. The Governors urge maximum flexibility to implement the spirit and purpose of the act.
The Governors support authorization of the juvenile accountability incentive block grant (JAIBG) program.
The Governors also support reauthorization of SCAAP and seek to raise the reimbursement ratio.
For the Byrne block grant program, NGA seeks to continue the current program with flexibility.
For the state prison grants program, NGA seeks to abolish all requirements and have more flexibility, with the state designating the offender population to be served.
Source: National Governors Association "Issues / Positions" 01-NGA10 on Sep 14, 2001
