Pubdate: Sun, 28 Dec 2003 Source: Charlotte Observer (NC) Copyright: 2003 The Charlotte Observer Contact: http://www.charlotte.com/mld/observer/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/78 Author: Associated Press Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/prison.htm (Incarceration) N.C. BUILDING MORE PRISONS, BUT NOT NEARLY FAST ENOUGH Increase In Prisoners Outstrips Construction, Latest Estimates State RALEIGH - North Carolina is building three new prisons and has approved financing for three more. That may not be enough to keep up with the parade of new prisoners. The latest projections on the number of inmates indicate the state will have to build several more prisons if legislators don't choose other options to reduce the need for cells. The N.C. Sentencing and Policy Advisory Commission's latest estimate last week indicates that the state will have 44,094 inmates behind bars by 2013, but will have only enough capacity for 37,743. Such overcrowding could lead to federal intervention, as happened in the 1980s when the state had a similar overcrowding problem. The new estimates show a continued rise in the prison population. Last year, the commission revised its estimates upward because convictions for murder, robberies and drug trafficking rose by roughly 20 percent. The commission took the same tack this year because of a 19 percent jump in habitual-felon convictions -- the so-called three-strikes penalty -- and a 5 percent jump in drug trafficking convictions. Even when the third of the three prisons approved this year opens in 2008, the state will be nearly 2,000 beds short if no other measures are taken. That's the size of two typical 1,000-bed maximum-security prisons, which costs the state about $80 million to build and $17 million a year to operate. "We're predicting again this year a shortage, and it's not going to go away, even with the prisons we're building," said Susan Katzenelson, executive director of the commission. Next year, state legislators are expected to consider tougher penalties to combat domestic violence and a rising number of methamphetamine operations. But tougher penalties often lead to more inmates or longer sentences, and budget shortfalls make it harder to pay the cost of housing them. So far, legislators have been unwilling to lessen penalties for any crime. The commission suggested several alternatives two years ago that could divert 4,600 prisoners over 10 years, but they have yet to gain traction because lawmakers fear they'll be branded soft on crime. Sen. Wib Gulley, D-Durham, said the new estimates only reinforce the need to take up the commission's suggestions. "I frankly doubt that there will be enough resources to build more prisons in the future and still do anything for education, health care or some of our other pressing needs," Gulley said. The New York Times reported last month that about half the states have reduced some sentences or made it easier for inmates to win parole to help balance their budgets this year. - --- MAP posted-by: Larry Seguin