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. - --- MAP posted-by: Beth Wehrman