THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, February 26, 1995 TAG: 9502240031
SECTION: COMMENTARY PAGE: J4 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Editorial
LENGTH: Medium: 51 lines
The prison situation in Virginia is a crime. Due to the shortage of beds, we are now shipping inmates to other states. Twenty percent of inmates in local jails should actually be in state prisons, and city sheriffs have begun to sue the state for relief. Politicians have promised to lock up criminals and throw away the key, but planned prison building won't keep pace with prisoner inflows.
Inmate population is now expected to double in the next 10 years to 51,000. Official estimates place the cost of providing sufficient prison space to cope at $746 million. Yet Governor Allen has sought only $402 million and the General Assembly has voted only a down payment on that.
The road ahead may therefore lead to a bleak scenario such as that already confronting many states. Thirty-nine have found themselves under federal court order for providing inadequate prison space. That has often forced the early release of prisoners. In neighboring North Carolina, a virtual revolving-door policy was in effect for years.
It does no good to sentence offenders to heavy prison time if the cells aren't available and the criminals wind up being sprung early. In some states, every time a prisoner enters the system one must be released to make room. In fact, some savvy crooks are pleading guilty and taking the time because they know they'll spend fewer days in jail that way than fighting the charges in court.
It's time to get real about this issue. Inadequate provisions for punishment make a mockery of the law. Alternatives to incarceration for nonviolent crimes must be aggressively sought. Drugs figure in a very large percentage of crimes. More must be done to fight drugs from the demand side.
Studies have shown that if kids are caught early and stopped in their tracks, they can be turned from a life of crime. But that requires an activist agenda that includes counseling the kids, modifying their behavior, intervening at their schools, compelling parental participation and sometimes removing the young criminals from pathological families.
By these means and others, the number of people sent to prison must be reduced. Still, those too dangerous to be punished any other way must go behind bars. And sufficient prison space will be needed to accommodate the hard core - forever, if necessary. Presently, none of those criteria are being met. Until they are, the fiery rhetoric about crime and punishment will be mostly hot air. by CNB