Pubdate: Fri, 26 Jun 2009 Source: Orlando Sentinel (FL) Copyright: 2009 Orlando Sentinel Contact: http://www.orlandosentinel.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/325 Note: Rarely prints out-of-state LTEs. REFORM JUSTICE SYSTEM Criminal-justice reform has long been a cause championed by civil libertarians. Now that business leaders, taxpayer watchdogs and law-enforcement veterans in Florida have joined in, Gov. Charlie Crist and legislators have no good excuse for ignoring this imperative. A group calling itself the Coalition for Smart Justice addressed an open letter last week to Mr. Crist and legislators calling for comprehensive reform in the state prison system and corrections policies. The coalition is made up of business, academic, religious, government, law-enforcement and social-service leaders. As the coalition argues, Florida spends too much to put nonviolent offenders in prison. By diverting them to cheaper and better alternatives, the state could free more dollars to invest in programs to rehabilitate violent offenders behind bars before their release. Taxpayers and public safety both would benefit. Signatories on the letter include Barney Bishop of Associated Industries of Florida, Dominic Calabro of Florida TaxWatch, three former state attorneys general, a former corrections commissioner and the head of the state's police benevolent association. Florida does a bang-up job of putting away convicted criminals. Its current prison population of almost 101,000 has jumped nearly a quarter in the past five years. Rising crime explains part of the increase, but so do tougher state sentencing laws. With the average cost of keeping an inmate in prison more than $20,000 a year, the bill for running the system tops $2 billion annually. And if the inmate population keeps growing at its current pace, the cost of building and operating new prisons will siphon billions more from taxpayers. Meanwhile, basic services like education, health care and environmental protection have been on the chopping block in Tallahassee. Many people would argue that public safety is worth almost any price But Florida's prison system doesn't do a very good job of protecting citizens once inmates get out. Of those released, a third commit crimes again within three years. Within five years, 65 percent do. The state's juvenile-justice system, another target for reform from the coalition, turns out to be an apprenticeship for the big house. About half the kids incarcerated in the system wind up in prison as adults. Given the growing drain on tax dollars from the prison system and its shortcomings in keeping ex-cons from re-offending, it's no wonder business and law-enforcement leaders have joined the call for reform. Currently, about half the inmates packing Florida's prisons were convicted for nonviolent crimes. Steering them ""especially the ones whose crimes stem from drug addiction or mental-health problems "" to less expensive but more effective alternatives would diminish the need to build new prisons at $100 million a pop. State legislators got a good start on this goal this year when they directed circuit judges to avoid sending nonviolent criminals to prison and bolstered the state's drug courts. After taking these steps, lawmakers put off $300 million worth of prison construction. More efforts to divert nonviolent offenders from prison could make more money available to beef up programs like education, drug treatment and mental-health counseling for those violent offenders who belong behind bars "" services that would make them more likely to be law-abiding, productive members of society when they are released. Over time, that also would bring down the prison population. For years, Florida legislators have been more interested in being tough than smart on crime. As a state senator, "Chain-gang Charlie" Crist cultivated a reputation for cracking down on criminals. But Florida has long since run out of money to pump into a prison system that burdens taxpayers yet falls short on protecting public safety. - --- MAP posted-by: Richard Lake