Summary
The Catholic Bishops of the State of New York indicated in September of 2000 in “Restoring All to the Fullness of Life” that it is essential to the safety of society that offenders be given every opportunity to restore themselves to wholeness, and re-integrate themselves as productive, law-abiding members of the community. Motivation for effective rehabilitation depends on strong personal incentives. Early release is a powerful incentive and should be offered to most inmates conditioned upon their completion of major rehabilitation programs and demonstration of evident rehabilitation. 

Conference Position
Merit time represents a concrete incentive to encourage prisoners to undertake long and difficult rehabilitation programs. Participation in meaningful programs ultimately increases public safety and could reduce unnecessary prison cost for inmates who have earned early release by demonstrated rehabilitation. The Catholic Conference supports an expanded use of merit time to include a greater number of inmates and a greater incentive for completion of specific rehabilitative accomplishments. 

Rationale
Comprehensive rehabilitation programs have proven to reduce recidivism significantly. Depending on each prisoner’s circumstance, a serious restorative program of addiction treatment, cognitive development, education, and job training can be effective in making possible a law-abiding re-integration into society. 

The social and economic cost to society for a prisoner who, after many years behind bars, gets out still addicted, uneducated, angry, sick, and disoriented is much greater than if attempts were made to create viable rehabilitative programs and activities with a genuine system of “merit time” rewards for adjustment and progress. With earned rehabilitation incentives, the prisoner, his family and society, all benefit. Prison costs are reduced by both shorter periods of current incarceration and less costs of recidivism. There are fewer future crimes and fewer future victims. More effective and less costly prison management and control of prisoners with less stress on correction officers are corollary benefits of good rehabilitation programs and genuine earned rehabilitation incentives. 

Prior to 1967 inmates were eligible to receive ten days per month off the minimum of an indeterminate sentence or off the amount of a definite sentence. The Catholic Conference supports a return to this standard to provide a meaningful incentive to eligible prisoners. Inmates should have a defined rehabilitation program which sets the minimum requirements for consideration of early release. 

Merit time credits for satisfactory progress in the rehabilitation program should be amassed and vested in six month intervals to reinforce the incentive for progress. Completion of this “rehabilitation contract” should not guarantee early release. It should, however, guarantee an earlier comprehensive review, and consideration for early release, by a parole board or other review body. Most inmates will return to the community and most are capable of redemption; meaningful programming could prepare them for a crime-free life. The early comprehensive review and consideration of release should carry with it a rebutable presumption of release. If, however, early release is denied the earned merit time would be applied to the maximum sentence. 

Legislation has been introduced in both houses that would expand and enhance the use of merit time as a rehabilitation incentive. Such legislation could result in reduced utilization of costly warehousing of inmates; and replace it with shorter, but more intense, rehabilitative programming for inmates who are committee to change. Programming availability would need to be expanded in the correctional system. The cost of additional programming would be more than offset by saving associated with merit time release. Over all savings could be substantial, in the hundreds of millions of dollars. The Lower recidivism resulting from rehabilitation also adds to public safety and other cost savings.