Pubdate: Tue, 28 May 2002 Source: Atlanta Journal-Constitution (GA) Copyright: 2002 Cox Interactive Media. Contact: http://www.accessatlanta.com/ajc/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/28 Author: Rhonda Cook CRITICS SAY INMATE GLUT IS RELIEVED VIA PAROLES Corrections: Bed Space Is 'Adequate' Alfred Davis has been convicted of 34 crimes and has gone to prison nine times since 1974. So it didn't surprise assistant store manager Rhonda Hart as much as it annoyed her to learn that Davis, one of many shoplifters who has preyed on the Ingles supermarket in Gray, was released from his latest prison term before he had served even the recommended minimum sentence. Each month, more than 300 nonviolent inmates like Davis are released by Georgia's parole board. And while victims' rights activists are concerned that the criminals are not serving their full terms, prison reform advocates see the early releases as a sure sign of a prison bed shortage and a way to manage prison populations. The Department of Corrections insists these low-level offenders --- forgers, shoplifters, thieves and drug dealers --- are freed because the board feels they are ready to return to society. The Parole Board, however, says the threat of running out of prison cells is forcing them to free some inmates who have been imprisoned after previous paroles were violated. State law mandates that prisoners serve at least one-third of their time before they are released. But that provision can be bypassed as long as prosecutors and judges don't object. Also, the parole board doesn't always follow its own guidelines about whom to release when. "It's a Catch-22," said Kim McCoy, director of victims' services for the Cobb County District Attorney's Office. "Certainly we need the bed space for the more violent offender. But what kind of society are we creating if we are not holding them accountable for their crimes?" At the core of the controversy is a debate over whether there is a prison bed shortage. The state Department of Corrections says that the early releases aren't related to space pressures. "There is adequate prison space," said department spokesman Scott Stallings. Nonviolent criminals are being released early because parole board members "think they ought to be released," he said. "To assert otherwise is ludicrous." Gov. Roy Barnes' office provided no direct answer to the question of whether there is a prison space shortage. Instead, it touted Georgia's aggressive prison-building program. "Georgia is building more prison cells and putting more people in prison than almost any other state," said Joselyn Baker, a spokeswoman for Barnes. "We have one of the toughest criminal justice systems in the country." But that toughness --- including new laws requiring stiffer sentences --- has kept Georgia's prison population growing, too. Virtually every week, the Department of Corrections' status reports show an increase in the number of state inmates. New halfway houses that could free up prison beds are in various stages of completion, and an 864-inmate facility that is new to the Department of Corrections's system should be full within the next few months. After that, there are no plans for new prisons. Only a 193-bed addition to the Georgia Diagnostic and Classification Prison near Jackson for death row inmates is in the works. Stallings acknowledged that common areas at six prisons have been used for some time to house a total of 550 prisoners at those institutions. Tamara Serwer of the Southern Center for Human Rights, an Atlanta-based nonprofit group, said she saw such a practice with 114 inmates at Augusta State Medical Prison. "We're facing an imminent problem though we're not at an overcrowding crisis," she said. 'No room in the system' For his part, Mike Sullivan, director of clemency for the parole board, said there is a definite relationship between the releases and crowding concerns. "If we weren't concerned about the prison population, we'd probably be releasing 600 to 700 [inmates on parole] a month," Sullivan said. "Now the target is about 900." That's up from 850 in January and 800 a few months before that. In addition, some prison-bound inmates linger in county jails. The Department of Corrections says there are almost 2,000 sentenced inmates waiting in jails for spaces in the state system. The state Department of Community Affairs, which compiles numbers provided by sheriffs statewide, says there are almost 3,400. State Rep. David Lucas (D-Macon), chairman of the House committee that oversees the state prison system, said he has no doubt that a prisoner jam-up is developing. "The prison system is becoming overcrowded," said Lucas. "Those they are releasing probably aren't as bad as those they aren't releasing. [But] why are they releasing them? Because we ain't got no room in the system." Taking a risk Using early releases to free up inmate beds --- rather than making informed and careful decisions about who should go to prison in the first place --- increases the likelihood that some people who actually should be in prison will go free, he said. McCoy expressed a similar concern. "If the standard is you may go to [prison] but you may get out early, how many times will it take before they learn and until they are rehabilitated?" she said. "If it takes them stealing five times from five different people and it takes sending them to prison five different times, are we wisely spending our money in the criminal justice system? And, she added, "Are we taking the risk that these offenders are going to become more frequent, more severe, more violent?" Petty crime serious too The parole board's Sullivan said there are few other choices, since the board is constrained by state mandatory sentencing laws and its own policies that require violent criminals serve at least 90 percent of their sentences. The pool of potential parolees is small and shrinking. "If there is not a decrease in admissions of nonviolent offenders, then the prison system is going to continue to increase at 2,100 [beds] a year." While state officials debate whether there is a problem, Hart, the Ingles assistant supermarket manager, is frustrated that they aren't providing her more protection from the petty thieves who plague her business. "They don't pay for their crimes. But we pay the price of this," she said. "When you come shopping, you pay more. It's petty crime, but it's not petty. You have to send a message that you don't tolerate it." - --- MAP posted-by: Keith Brilhart