Pubdate: Fri, 28 Apr 2000 Source: Topeka Capital-Journal (KS) Copyright: 2000 The Topeka Capital-Journal Contact: 616 S.E. Jefferson, Topeka, Kansas 66607 Website: http://cjonline.com/ Author: Suzanne James DECRIMINALIZING CRIME Once again the Legislature is tinkering with the correctional system in order to avoid adding costly prison beds and avoid giving taxpayers the bad news that there's a price to be paid to make the criminal justice system work effectively. In spite of euphemistic language about "low level, non-violent" offenders" - -- burglars, thieves, drug dealers -- the fact is that a sentence to community corrections usually means probation, during which these criminals are free to continue burglarizing, stealing and selling drugs. What the Legislature is really up to is another expansion of the decriminalization process, which began in 1992 with the Kansas Sentencing Guidelines that released 60 percent of the prison population. While decriminalizing crime won't raise your taxes, further decriminalization is guaranteed to raise your insurance premiums and business costs if not jeopardize your personal safety. Every time the Legislature decriminalizes a felony by exchanging probation for incarceration, we are in effect saying that the increase in crime that inevitably results, up to and including murders committed by so-called "non-violent" offenders, is an acceptable alternative to raising taxes by a few dollars annually. It's your property, your life and your choice. - -- Suzanne James, Topeka. - --- MAP posted-by: Jo-D