Pubdate: Wed, 20 Aug 2003
Source: Daytona Beach News-Journal (FL)
Copyright: 2003 News-Journal Corp
Contact:  http://www.n-jcenter.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/700
Author: David Royse, AP 
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/topics/florida
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/prison.htm (Incarceration)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/rehab.htm (Treatment)

BUSH: DRUG TREATMENT CUTS NOT TO BLAME FOR PRISON POPULATION JUNP

TALLAHASSEE -- Officials in Gov. Jeb Bush's administration moved
aggressively Tuesday to knock down speculation that cuts in drug
treatment funding contributed to a spike in the prison admissions,
saying anomalies in a few counties are instead to blame.

State prison officials were astonished this summer to see a dramatic
jump in the number of new inmates, and the Legislature last week
passed an emergency $65 million appropriation to add new bed space.

The increase came a year and a half after an economic downturn forced
budget cuts, including cuts for drug treatment programs for prisoners
and criminals on probation or other non-prison supervision programs.

The governor, the head of the prison system and the state's top drug
abuse official joined together Tuesday in saying they were convinced
the budget cuts couldn't have fueled the rise in prison admissions.
They were responding to media reports suggesting that drug-addicted
criminals who didn't get treatment were being released and returning
to their drug habits only to be arrested again.

``The budget cuts are too recent to have the implied impact on the
rate of recidivism,'' Bush wrote in a letter Tuesday to Supreme Court
Chief Justice Harry Anstead and state legislative leaders.

Still, Bush said it could be a factor in the future and vowed to try
and restore treatment money.

``I will continue my strong advocacy to restore funding for drug
treatment programs in state prisons during the next budget year,''
Bush wrote.

State officials also say that most people sent to prison for drug
crimes were arrested for dealing, not small-time possession, so
treatment is likely less of a factor.

Instead of budget cuts, local changes in judges and prosecutors may be
more to blame, said Jim McDonough, the head of the state's Office of
Drug Control Policy. If treatment cuts were driving an increase in
crime, the resulting increase in inmates should be statewide, they
argue. But certain areas of the state had remarkable increases while
others didn't.

McDonough and Corrections Secretary James Crosby said that spikes in
inmates from Volusia, Hillsborough, Polk, Escambia and Leon Counties
were driving the increase in the overall population and that something
local must be at work.

McDonough speculated, based on conversations he said he had with local
prosecutors, that changes in judges after the 2002 election may have
led some counties to see a faster elimination of docket backlogs.

Bush also asked the Senate, House and Supreme Court to join him in
creating a task force to examine the method by which the state predicts
prison population to try and avoid surprise spikes in the 
future.
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MAP posted-by: Larry Seguin