Pubdate: Wed, 28 May 2003 Source: Greenville News (SC) Copyright: 2003 The Greenville News Contact: http://greenvillenews.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/877 OVERFLOWING PRISONS COSTLY Too Many Petty Drug Offenders Strain a Limited State Budget. Alternative Programs Are Cheaper, Effective. The state Legislature has blown an opportunity this year to begin seriously exploring alternatives to South Carolina's preference to lock up such a large proportion of its citizens. An effort to study the issue over the summer - with an eye toward proposing reforms next session - is encouraging. This state desperately needs to match the size of its prison population with its means and do so without compromising public safety. Because the cost to incarcerate is staggering, it is necessary to review laws that require mandatory jail time and long prison sentences and expand alternative sentencing programs. This state already spends more than $340 million on prisons, even after laying off 500 prison guards and cutting the budget $40 million over the past three years. With little tolerance for more cuts, Corrections has resorted to deficit spending. Without reforms, this cost and deficit spending are expected to grow. Corrections is already about 1,000 inmates above capacity. South Carolina is consistently among the top-10 states in the nation in the proportion of its citizens that it imprisons. And we've resisted expanding alternatives to incarceration even while many states have effectively used strict home detention programs for some offenders. These programs are attractive because they often allow inmates to work and shift the cost-burden for housing to offenders. Expansion of such programs is needed and does not run counter to this state's traditionally stern stance on crime and punishment. In fact, incorporating more alternative sentencing should not be much of a stretch for our Legislature. It already has recognized that some inmates thrive when given treatment and counseling without incarceration. The state's Drug Courts have a remarkable track record. These first-time drug offenders who complete the rigorous path to graduation in Drug Court are far less likely to commit future crimes than those who are incarcerated. South Carolina has a comparatively high concentration of drug offenders within its prison population. For a quarter of inmates, or roughly 5,700, the most serious conviction stems from a drug offense. A good share are lesser possession offenses, hardly the work of major drug traffickers. But strict sentencing guidelines often prohibit leniency or eligibility for alternative programs. It is here that the state must seize the opportunity to reduce its prison population. Without major changes, South Carolina will struggle to keep up with the cost of incarcerating so many of its citizens. This will adversely affect other necessary services. And it is simply implausible to imprison the same numbers while continuing to cut the budget. We may have already arrived at the point where that strategy has compromised safety. Already, the guard-to-inmate ratio is nearly twice the national average. It is no coincidence that prison assaults, against both guards and inmates, are on the rise. It's clear that South Carolina's prisons are too costly. Cutting funding, without reducing the prison population, is too dangerous. Therefore, this state must look within its laws, program offerings and pocketbook to find a manageable prison population. - --- MAP posted-by: Alex