Pubdate: Sun, 31 Aug 2003
Source: Atlanta Journal-Constitution (GA)
Copyright: 2003 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Contact:  http://www.accessatlanta.com/ajc/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/28
Author: Cynthia Tucker

ALTER APPROACH TO SENTENCING

For two years, John Bell has sat in the Wayne State Prison in Odum, mostly 
idle, costing Georgia taxpayers nearly $20,000 a year for his 
incarceration. He is serving a 10-year sentence for drug possession with 
intent to distribute.

A Navy veteran with a good work history, Bell might have been working and 
contributing taxes rather than costing the taxpayers for his upkeep. If 
Georgia were more progressive about alternative sentencing, he might have 
been in a diversion center, working during the day and reporting in at night.

Like thousands of other nonviolent drug offenders, Bell doesn't need to be 
behind bars in a medium-or maximum-security facility. He hasn't raped or 
robbed, murdered or maimed.

But, over the years, Georgia legislators have found little campaign fodder 
in measured, rational criminal justice policies.

So few pass up the opportunity to demagogue on crime, to denounce 
lawbreakers (as if voters support crime) and to pledge swift -- and 
preferably harsh -- justice. In 1990, according to a poll by The Atlanta 
Journal-Constitution, a majority of legislators said they would send 
first-time drug offenders to prison, even if they had to raise taxes to do it.

Now, for the first time, the General Assembly could be tested on that 
pledge. Faced with a budget deficit that could run as high as $1 billion 
next year, Gov. Sonny Perdue has already sworn off a tax increase. Not to 
be outdone, Lt. Gov. Mark Taylor rushed to join him on the no-new-taxes 
bandwagon. So did several other prominent legislative leaders.

Meanwhile, the bill for "tough on crime" policies -- put in place when 
state coffers were overflowing -- is getting bigger and bigger. In 1993, 
the Department of Corrections spent about $500 million. This year, the 
department is expected to spend nearly $1 billion. For the first time in 
its history, Georgia incarcerated more than 50,000 people this year, with 
thousands more waiting in county jails for a prison bed to become available.

The fastest-growing parts of the state budget during the last decade were 
education and prisons. Could this be a good time for the Georgia General 
Assembly to reconsider its commitment to tough justice?

Faced with budget deficits and overcrowded prisons, several other states 
have started alternative sentencing programs for nonviolent offenders, 
including diversion and detention centers and "day report" centers, where 
offenders with multiple needs -- from remedial education to drug counseling 
- -- are offered a solid shot at rehabilitation. Here in Georgia, a 
Governor's Commission on Certainty in Sentencing has recommended similar 
reforms.

The state would not save money in the short term; providing therapy and 
intensive supervision for drug-addled felons will cost millions, too. But 
nonviolent offenders given a chance at a clean start are far less likely to 
return to crime and be sent to prison again, producing savings in the long 
run. In addition, they are more likely to become productive citizens -- 
holding down jobs and supporting their families -- which is a wholesale 
benefit.

Despite the common sense behind the proposals, the commission's plans have 
not received Perdue's enthusiastic endorsement. That's partly because the 
commission was appointed by his predecessor, Roy Barnes. Perdue has gone 
out of his way to distance himself from anything Barnes supported -- good 
ideas along with bad ones.

But the commission's recommendations have also been caricatured as the 
fuzzy thinking of misguided reformers who want to put hardened thugs back 
on the streets. That's dead wrong. The commission is careful to separate 
nonviolent offenders from violent ones; its recommendations would actually 
leave violent criminals in prison longer, in some cases.

The sentencing guidelines would also allow men like Bell to reconnect with 
their wives and children sooner -- a move that would shore up families. 
That carries no downside.

Cynthia Tucker is the editorial page editor. Her column appears Sundays and 
Wednesdays.
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MAP posted-by: Larry Stevens