“The Smart Justice 50-State Blueprints are the result of a multi-year partnership between the ACLU, its state affiliates, and the Urban Institute to develop actionable policy options for each state that captures the nuance of local laws and sentencing practices. We reviewed data on who’s incarcerated, for what reasons, and for how long. Urban Institute researchers then created a forecasting tool to predict the impact of reductions in admissions and length of stay on the number of people imprisoned in each state, the racial disparities in their prison systems, and the impact of these reductions on state budgets. In Arizona, for example, where drug possession and distribution account for nearly one out of every three prison admissions, reductions in admissions and time served could lead to 23,023 fewer people in prison by 2025, at a cost savings to the state of over $1 billion. And in Oregon, where harsh mandatory minimums have contributed to a nearly fivefold increase in the prison population between 1980 and 2016, reforms could lead to 6,894 fewer people in prison by 2025, saving the state more than $500 million…”