Pubdate: Wed, 14 Apr 2010
Source: Post and Courier, The (Charleston, SC)
Copyright: 2010 Evening Post Publishing Co.
Contact:  http://www.charleston.net/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/567
Note: Rarely prints LTEs received from outside its circulation area

SC NEEDS SENTENCING REFORM

People without children might not care so much about public education 
(although they should).

And people who have solid jobs might not be so distressed about 
unemployment (although they should be, too).

But everyone in South Carolina is vulnerable to crime -- from a 
stolen bicycle to a drive-by shooting. And everyone should encourage 
the state House of Representatives to vote in favor of a Senate bill 
that would reform criminal sentencing.

The comprehensive, bipartisan bill aims to preserve public safety and 
reduce crime -- two worthy goals. To do that, it would provide 
consistency in sentencing classifications and assign punishments 
proportional for the offenses committed.

It would keep violent criminals behind bars, by toughening penalties 
for some of the most serious crimes.

But it would manage some not-so-bad lawbreakers, who don't need to 
fill beds in the state's dangerously overcrowded prisons, with 
community supervision.

The bill, scheduled for discussion in a House judicial subcommittee 
today, presumes that a drug user, for example, might become a 
productive citizen with appropriate counseling and oversight in the 
community. It recognizes that prisons aren't ideal places for 
rehabilitation, as the high recidivism rate for inmates attests.

Indeed, about half of the state's prisoners are non-violent 
offenders. And 24 percent of all prisoners return to prison -- many 
for non-criminal offenses.

If things continue as they are, the Department of Corrections 
estimates it will take $317 million to build more prisons to meet the 
state's growing needs. This is money the state can ill afford, but 
would have to provide for the safety of the public.

With sentencing reform, the existing prisons would be adequate -- and 
the state would save money because the cost of community supervision 
is a fraction of the cost of incarceration.

The sentencing reform bill would ensure that prisons have room for 
the bad guys. The public deserves that security.

It also provides for the best use of public dollars in parceling out 
cell space -- something that hard-pressed taxpayers deserve.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom