Pubdate: Thu, 04 Sep 2003 Source: Tallahassee Democrat (FL) Copyright: 2003 Tallahassee Democrat. Contact: http://www.tallahassee.com/mld/democrat/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/444 UNJUST PUNISHMENT Prison Rehab Cuts Are Shortsighted In Florida, the pendulum has long swung between two schools of thought about prisons. One view is that even for nonviolent offenders, prison should be no-frills warehousing without benefit of rehabilitation or self-improvement. The broader societal view is that prisoners should receive job skills and education, making those who are released less likely to return to a life of crime. Though the Department of Corrections' own research supports the second approach, Florida is gutting its prison-rehabilitation programs to save more than $20 million. According to The Miami Herald, 339 positions - including chaplains, counselors and teachers - have been cut, and vocational and GED course offerings have been drastically reduced. As if this move weren't regressive enough, it comes at a time when lawmakers are spending more than $65 million on 4,000 new prison beds - - a short-sighted response to a crime "surge" largely attributable to nonviolent drug offenses such as cocaine possession. One official, former DOC education bureau chief Bill Woolley, was sufficiently offended to resign. "If you get an inmate a GED, they come back less," Mr. Woolley told the Herald. "If you get them a vocational certificate, they come back even lesser, if you will. And if you get them a job, they don't come back at all." It's easy to appear tough on crime, but lawmakers would better serve Florida by supporting programs that help prevent crime in the first place. When the state received $500 million in economic stimulus money from Congress in June, legislators didn't exactly clamor to bolster education or anti-crime programs. Instead of throwing money at prison beds, lawmakers need to work harder at preventing them from filling up. - --- MAP posted-by: Richard Lake