Pubdate: Wed, 14 May 2003
Source: Kansas City Star (MO)
Copyright: 2003 The Kansas City Star
Contact:  http://www.kcstar.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/221
Author: Shashank Bengali

MISSOURI BILL AIMED AT REDUCING SWELLING PRISON POPULATION

FULTON, Mo. - Larry Witherspoon says he's a changed man, his days of 
drinking and drugs -- the stuff that drove him to stealing and eventually 
prison -- in the past.

Witherspoon, of Kansas City, credits the past three months he has spent at 
a minimum-security facility in Fulton serving what the state calls a shock 
sentence -- 120 days of prison time, with education and treatment for 
substance abuse and other problems.

Such sentences are aimed at rehabilitating first-time, nonviolent offenders.

"When my wife went blind, I wasn't prepared for it and my whole life got 
out of proportion," said Witherspoon, 48. "The treatment is really doing 
good for me. It's got my self-esteem back up and my head cleared."

Witherspoon's story and others like his resonate with some lawmakers. The 
Missouri House is expected to begin debate today on legislation that would 
expand the use of shock sentences and allow other nonviolent offenders to 
petition for release after 120 days.

The bill sponsored by Sen. Harold Caskey, a Democrat from Butler, would 
also reduce the maximum sentence for the lowest class of felonies from five 
years to four.

Some prosecutors fear that the bill would go too easy on criminals. Some 
judges chafe at its sentencing guidelines.

Backers say the bill would keep criminals from committing new crimes and 
ease the crowding in Missouri's prisons. At least 1,542 beds would 
initially open up, saving the state about $9 million in the first year and 
more than double that in subsequent years, according to estimates.

Given the state's dire financial situation, now is an appropriate time to 
consider alternatives to long prison sentences for some crimes, said Sen. 
Matt Bartle, chairman of the Judiciary Committee. The Senate passed the 
bill 26-0 last month.

"There's a sense we don't have the right sentencing mix in the state," said 
Bartle, a Lee's Summit Republican. "Our violent offenders probably need to 
be put away longer. Some of our lighter offenders probably shouldn't be 
incarcerated."

Mirroring a national trend in the tough-on-crime 1990s, the state's inmate 
population has more than doubled since 1991 and now stands at about 30,200. 
Last year, while the number of inmates in the nation's prisons grew by 2.8 
percent, Missouri had a 6.6 percent increase, according to the federal 
Bureau of Justice Statistics.

More than half the new admissions to state prisons are for nonviolent, 
drug-related crimes.

The Missouri Department of Corrections has filled prisons with more inmates 
than the facilities were designed to hold. A new maximum-security prison is 
planned to replace an old one in Jefferson City, but no projects are in the 
works to add capacity.

Caskey, a former Bates County prosecutor, studied the state's sentencing 
laws and co-wrote a report called "Arresting the Overflow." The report 
concluded that mandatory minimum sentences were filling Missouri's prisons 
- -- and sucking up state funds at a rate of about $13,000 per year per 
prisoner -- but not deterring crime.

State guidelines call for some first-time, nonviolent offenders who are 
sentenced to prison to enter 120-day shock programs. The programs are 
designed to treat drug and alcohol addictions and to teach the inmates job 
skills.

When the 120 days are up, a judge reviews the prisoner's progress and can 
release the prisoner on probation or parole, or require him or her to serve 
the longer sentence.

But the current system is not working perfectly, some say. Some inmates, 
Caskey said, have been left in the programs longer than 120 days because 
judges have not reviewed their cases in a timely manner.

Under the bill, judges would be required to consider those guidelines and, 
if they chose not to follow them, explain why in writing. If a judge did 
not offer an explanation, the Board of Probation and Parole could elect to 
shorten the sentence.

Also, inmates serving time for the two lowest levels of felonies could 
petition after 120 days to be released on probation or parole or into an 
alternative program.

Caskey said some provisions should appeal to law enforcement officials. The 
bill would increase the maximum sentences for nearly all persistent and 
dangerous offenders and make endangerment of a child a more serious felony.

The Senate added an amendment sponsored by Bartle that would ban human 
cloning in Missouri. It also added a provision, backed by Sen. Charles 
Wheeler, a Kansas City Democrat, that would make it a felony to tamper with 
prescription drugs.

If the bill passes, Missouri would join several other states that have 
recently enacted alternative sentencing laws. In Kansas, Gov. Kathleen 
Sebelius last month signed legislation to allow some drug offenders to 
enroll in community treatment programs instead of going to prison.

Meanwhile, in Fulton, Witherspoon is two weeks away from completing his 
shock sentence. Anger-management classes have helped him get his emotions 
under control, he has learned to write a resume, and substance abuse 
treatment has helped him -- he thinks -- kick his addiction.

Rather than serve out his five-year prison sentence, he hopes to be 
released on probation and reunite with his wife, who is still struggling 
with the diabetes that stole her eyesight. He'll be a better husband, he 
said, and he talked eagerly of joining a blind community with her.

"I've got myself together," he said. "County jail would have never helped me."

The legislation is SB5.
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MAP posted-by: Larry Stevens