Pubdate: Sun, 06 Apr 2003 Source: State, The (SC) Copyright: 2003 The State Contact: http://www.thestate.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/426 Author: Brad Warthen THERE IS A BETTER, CHEAPER WAY THAN LOCKING UP ALL THESE PEOPLE "THAT 45 PERCENT figure -- does that shock you? That's people who aren't in for a violent offense and don't have a violent offense on their record. I was shocked by that number." Jon Ozmint, the new director of the S.C. Department of Corrections, said that, his voice filled with wonder, a month ago today. He was talking about the staggering number of people in prison in South Carolina who don't necessarily need to be there. That number is just one of many facts that Mr. Ozmint was absorbing about the department he had recently been appointed to run. He had also learned that he had inherited a department full of dedicated, overworked, underpaid people whose jobs and very lives were endangered by draconian budget cuts over the last two years. And one of his first jobs was to find more cuts. Last week, he reluctantly announced the results of his labors -- 148 jobs would be eliminated in the department. More than half of the positions were educators. That means that unless he can replace them with volunteers, fewer prisoners will have any chance at rehabilitation. Worse, those cuts may have been just the first installment, since he is still far short of meeting his budget. And small shifts in the marketplace could erase the savings from those 148 positions. "If the price of gas goes up and the price of utilities, that six million's going to be gone," he said. Meanwhile, Mr. Ozmint is looking for more creative solutions. One place he's likely to start is with that 45 percent figure. It refers to the number of people in the state's prisons who have never been convicted of a violent act. Last week, he told me that figure was really more like 48 percent -- in other words, almost half of the 23,500 or so currently in the custody of his department. He wonders, as do I, why all of those people need to be in prison, costing the taxpayers $14,000 apiece to house, guard and feed them, when they could be outside working and paying restitution for their crimes -- in other words, paying society back instead of being a financial burden. Mr. Ozmint notes that some of the 48 percent need to be in prison, even though their crimes were "nonviolent." The prisons director still thinks like the prosecutor he was, and he has no desire to put major drug dealers out on the street. But many of them don't need to be there, and Mr. Ozmint has started talking to lawmakers about ways to get some of those less-dangerous offenders out from behind bars while still keeping them on a tight rein. He envisions a tiered approach: * Those who are still regarded as somewhat risky could be monitored by satellite. It's relatively expensive (about $10 a day), but the prisoners would be out working and paying the cost themselves. * Slightly lower-risk individuals could be on conventional electronic monitoring -- less expensive, but not as foolproof as the satellite systems. * More trustworthy types would simply have to phone in frequently at set times from a certain telephone number, with voice-recognition software keeping them honest. * Finally, the lowest-risk subjects would just check in by phone once a week or so, as parolees have done for ages. An important part of this plan, as Mr. Ozmint sees it, is that all of these ex-prisoners would still be legally in the custody of the Corrections Department. That way, if they mess up and need to go back inside, they can be put there without having to clog up the courts with further hearings. Mr. Ozmint points out emphatically that he's not criticizing judges for sending him these inmates in the first place. He says our laws leave judges little choice. All they have now to choose from is probation -- which many of these folks have already "flunked" -- and incarceration. That's why he'd like lawmakers to provide a third way. And lawmakers, some of them at least, are receptive. Sen. Mike Fair, R-Greenville, chairman of the Senate Corrections and Penology Committee, is looking for just such creative solutions. Of Mr. Ozmint's ideas, he said, "We're in the harness with him on that." Sen. Fair notes the apparent irony that he and Mr. Ozmint and others seen as hard-line law-and-order types would be looking for ways to keep crooks out of prison. (Mocking his own reputation, his first response when asked about alternatives to incarceration was to say, "You mean, like firing squads?") He says he's learned a few things about the realities of the penal system since assuming the responsibility of his chairmanship. "The epiphany has been gradual," he said, but after visiting many of the state's prisons and observing the same dedicated, yet stressed, public servants who have impressed Mr. Ozmint with their stoic efforts, he has seen the need to change the state's approach. Besides, "The money crunch has gotten our attention," he said. He and Mr. Ozmint both want a committee -- one representing not only lawmakers, but solicitors, wardens and others who have a stake in the system -- to study alternatives, with the goal of presenting legislation next year. "Perceived conservatives and perceived liberals are on the same page on this" now, says Sen. Fair. More and more, they're realizing that there has to be a better way. - --- MAP posted-by: Alex