Pubdate: Sat, 30 Apr 2005 Source: Lexington Herald-Leader (KY) Copyright: 2005 Lexington Herald-Leader Contact: http://www.kentucky.com/mld/heraldleader/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/240 Author: Paschal Baute KENTUCKY'S GROWTH INDUSTRY: PRISONS Did anyone notice that Kentucky's growth rate among Ohio Valley states clearly beats all the surrounding seven states in at least one area: growth in prison population? In the number of prisoners in state and federal corrections, Kentucky's rate of growth, compared with the average of the seven surrounding states, is not twice, not three times, but almost four times the average rate of all seven surrounding states, up 8.5 percent from 2003 to 2004. Our prison population has increased four times as fast as that of the surrounding seven states. Is this because we have that many more criminals in Kentucky? Or possibly because our sentencing policies are now the harshest in the region? How is this happening? The vast majority are there for using or selling drugs. We are paying so much for warehousing ($300 million a year in Kentucky) that there is nothing left for rehabilitation. If we take time to examine the situation, we will find that we are simply punishing addictive behavior by incarceration -- mostly without rehabilitation. So two-thirds are back in jail within three years. Local jails and prisons are overcrowded, so much so in some county jails that inmates are living in Third World conditions. Even when volunteer programs are offered, some county jail staffs are too busy with the overcrowded warehousing of inmates to accept the offer. Are our sentencing policies creating a new underclass of people trapped in addiction, joblessness and resentment? Is this a system of justice? Are these policies protecting our communities, or undermining our safety and security? Who will examine and speak to these issues? Paschal Baute Lexington - --- MAP posted-by: Richard Lake