Pubdate: Sun, 13 May 2007
Source: Metrowest Daily News (MA)
Copyright: 2007 MetroWest Daily News
Contact:  http://www.metrowestdailynews.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/619
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?199 (Mandatory Minimum Sentencing)

BETTER POLICIES, NOT BIGGER PRISONS

Massachusetts jails are bursting at the seams, county sheriffs say, 
and millions of dollars are needed to repair and expand them to house 
the thousands of men and women behind bars. Last Sunday, the Daily 
News reported that jails serving Middlesex, Worcester and Norfolk 
County are holding more than twice as many prisoners as they were 
built to handle.

"It's a life or death issue," according to Worcester County Sheriff Guy Glodis.

True enough, and no doubt there are immediate needs that must be 
addressed to ensure adequate conditions. The state's prisons are 
overcrowded as well. But the problems go beyond a lack of cells and bunks.

Our prisons are crowded, in part, because they are the place where 
thousands of the untreated mentally ill end up. They can't cope and 
they can't get help, but they can get arrested.

Prisons and jails are also crowded because we have criminalized 
addiction. A state task force found that 81 percent have substance 
abuse disorder. The crimes committed by thousands of inmates stem 
from drug abuse - and drug prohibition. It costs $45,000 a year to 
keep a drug addict in a state prison, yet few of them get the 
treatment they'll need to go straight after release.

Prison overcrowding is also the direct result of misguided policies. 
Mandatory minimum sentences and "truth in sentencing" laws enacted in 
the 1990s by legislators determined to appear tough on crime have 
backfired. Prisoners convicted under those laws serve their full 
sentences and are released without post-release supervision, and 
without the remainder of a sentence hanging over them should they get 
in trouble again. Without jobs, skills or housing, they find their 
way back to the old neighborhood, the old gang and the old bad habits.

Urban police chiefs can anticipate spikes in gang violence, Gov. 
Deval Patrick said during a visit to Framingham this week, "because 
they know when the bad guys are getting out."

Patrick, House Speaker Sal DiMasi and Senate President Therese Murray 
said this week they have agreed it's time to roll back mandatory 
minimum sentences and concentrate on post-release supervision and 
prisoner re-entry programs. They have an ally in Attorney General 
Martha Coakley.

"The biggest problem is that our approach to public safety has been 
to warehouse people," Patrick said. The answer is new policies, not 
bigger warehouses.
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MAP posted-by: Beth Wehrman