Letter: Support Grassley’s sentencing reform bill

As a high school student, I was appalled to learn that the United States has more than 25 percent of the world's prison population, yet our citizens only make up 5 percent of the world's total population. Such a high prison population comes with a large cost. In 1980, the United States spent $540 million on federal prisons; now we spend over $6 billion every year. That's money that could go toward things like education, fixing roads, and more effective policing, all of which would ultimately improve the country that I am growing up in.

Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley's sentencing reform bill addresses all of these issues by cutting mandatory minimums for non-violent crimes, returning discretion to judges and lowering recidivism rates.

I encourage other young people to learn more about mass incarceration and how it affects our society.

Thank you, Sen. Grassley, for introducing this bill, and thank you, Sen. Ernst, for supporting it.

Sam Bruxvoort Colligan

Strawberry Point