Pubdate: Wed, 16 Jun 1999 Source: Boston Herald (MA) Contact: http://www.bostonherald.com/ Author: Eric Convey STUDY ARRESTS PRISON MYTHS: MANDATORY SENTENCING NOT OVERCROWDING JAILS The commonly held notion that Bay State prisons are bursting with non-violent drug offenders is false, an extensive new report set for release today claims. ``There is no reason to believe that our prisons are full of people who don't belong there,'' wrote the authors of ``Prisons and Sentencing in Massachusetts - Waging a More Effective Fight Against Crime,'' a 42-page assessment of the state's prison system by a non-partisan think tank. The report skewers the contention that mandatory sentences are responsible for prison over-crowding in Massachusetts. ``If every one of the 1,851 mandatory minimum offenders in state prison were released tomorrow, the Department of Correction's population would still be 1,000 inmates above current capacity,'' the report states. It adds that two violent offenders are sent to state prison for each drug offender. The findings by the non-partisan Massachusetts Institute for a New Commonwealth (MassINC) comes amid a call from some quarters for elimination of the state's mandatory sentencing rules, which force judges to incarcerate people convicted of certain crimes for set terms. Marie Russo of Revere, head of the state's chapter of Families Against Mandatory Minimums, said strict sentencing rules strip judges of important discretion. ``Not that (offenders) shouldn't be punished. They should,'' she said. ``But let the punishment fit the crime." ``I don't think the judges are too soft,'' she added. ``I think the judges look at all the mitigating factors.'' The American Civil Liberties Union of Massachusetts also opposes mandatory sentences. ``What's happened in a lot of places is that violent criminals who do not have mandatory sentences have been let out of prison in order to stuff the prisons with people who have mandatory drug sentences,'' said Norma Shapiro, an ACLU issues specialist. But Robert Keough, author of the MassINC report, said mandatory sentences are useful. They grew out of ``a concerted and legitimate push to give real teeth to punishment of crimes,'' he said in an interview. But Keough conceded that there are ``instances of miscarriage of justice that should give us pause about mandatory-minimum sentences.'' He advocates the creation of ``safety valves'' that on rare occasions would let judges deviate from otherwise mandatory sentences. Opponents of mandatory sentences also maintain that people with little criminal history end up spending decades behind bars for one drug offense. The MassINC report calls that argument ``dubious at best.'' The average state inmate serving time for a drug conviction in December 1997 had 10.1 prior convictions as an adult and 1.5 as a juvenile, the authors found. While supporting mandatory minimum sentences, the MassINC report suggests changes in the state's corrections approach. One big one would be expanding programs such as using half-way houses to help inmates make the transition back into society. The state has only 150 beds in such facilities now, down from 400 in late 1980s, even though the inmate population at state Houses of Correction has doubled in that time, he said. Department of Correction Commissioner Michael Maloney declined through a spokesman to comment, saying he wanted to wait until he read the report. The MassINC report also states that Massachusetts needs to begin planning the next phase of prison construction. Overcrowding persists, even though the state and its counties have spent almost $1.5 billion on new prisons since 1985. There are 10,000 prisoners in state houses of corrections built for 8,130, the report states, and 12,000 in county facilities meant for 8,356. ``We have been focusing, and rightly so, on putting prisoners behind bars, especially the bad guys,'' said MassINC Policy Director Michael Gritton. ``But what we haven't been focusing on enough is the crime control goal of when they come back out.'' The report recommends that the state: * Build more lower security prison cells and phase inmates out of maximum-security units prior to release. * Increase the capacity of specialized treatment centers dedicated to issues such as substance abuse and anger management. * Fine-tune mandatory-sentencing guidelines to give inmates incentives for taking part in educational programs. * Expand the use of parole. The report concludes the state has done a ``woefully inadequate'' job compiling data on prisons and inmates for review by policy makers. ``With millions, even billions, of taxpayer dollars at stake, not to mention public safety today and in the future, the haphazardness of correctional record-keeping is simply unacceptable.'' - --- MAP posted-by: manemez j lovitto