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Saturday, October 31, 2009

Ind. Gov't. - Following up on "Lights Out at the Penitentiary: Strapped States are Shutting Prisons"

This ILB entry from Sept. 5th quoted stories from the WSJ and the LA Times titled, respectively, "Lights Out at the Penitentiary: Strapped States are Shutting Prisons," and "Cash-strapped states revise laws to get inmates out: Mandatory sentencing laws are relaxed, parole is accelerated, and time off for good behavior is increased as states scramble to save money."

Contrast those stories with an Indianapolis Star story titled "Killer's early release in pastor's 1993 slaying sparks outrage" quoted in this Sept. 7th ILB entry, and a NWI Times story headed "Ind. loophole lets some life sentences end early," quoted in this Oct. 10th ILB entry.

Yesterday's Fort Wayne Journal Gazette published this editorial titled "When prisons are full":

Tough-on-crime initiatives often run into the roadblock of financial realities. Such is the case in Indiana’s prison system, which has effectively reached capacity for higher-security adult men yet still takes in 1,000 or more new prisoners each year, as Niki Kelly’s Sunday story explained.

Yet Indiana lawmakers denied proposals for two prison expansions this year, and for good reason. Not only does prison space cost money, but it also requires more staff, adding yearly expenses. And society’s experience with prisons has been if you build it, they will come: With less incentive to seek alternatives, the judicial system will fill prisons.

Many Hoosiers like the idea of putting criminals in prison and forcing them to serve entire sentences, but they hedge at the monumental cost.

In addition, prisons have bleak records in reforming inmates.

So lawmakers again must examine tough laws that put Hoosiers in prison for drug possession and other non-violent crimes. They must again examine ways to expand cost-effective programs such as drug and re-entry courts, which judge criminals but also help them with job and life skills to reduce their chances of re-offending.

They must continue to seek ways to make home detention and work-release programs available and secure.

Prisons are necessary to protect society from the most violent criminals, but alternatives for non-violent criminals are most cost-effective and can often achieve reformation when prison cannot.

Here is the lengthy Oct. 25th story by Niki Kelly referenced in the editorial. The headline: "State deals with rise in inmates, violent acts." Some quotes, from the beginning and end of the story:
INDIANAPOLIS – Every month, about 100 new prisoners stream into the Indiana Department of Correction, whether there is room for them or not.

The agency hasn’t received funding for new beds or additional guards in years – a reality that has pushed inmates, correctional officers and the public into potential danger.

Violence is on the rise in the prison system – an estimated 43 percent increase in inmate assaults and a projected 6 percent increase in staff assaults.

DOC Commissioner Edwin Buss said the situation is like waiting for a disaster.

"Every murderer or armed robber sentenced today has no bed waiting for them," he said. "It hasn’t had a traumatic effect yet, but I liken prison overcrowding to playing Russian roulette.

"Every year that we add more than 1,000 offenders is like putting a bullet in the chamber. It’s going to catch up to us sooner or later."

Indiana is housing 27,300 inmates – a number that has been growing between 1,000 and 1,200 every year. * * *

Gone are the days when Indiana was housing out-of-state prisoners because of a surplus of beds. Now, it has no open maximum-security or high-medium-security beds for adult male offenders, Buss said.

That means violent offenders are being bunked in lower-security dormitory spaces and bunks are being moved closer to fit more in, creating a potential powder keg. * * *

So what can be done about crowding aside from increasing prison capacity?

Buss said 6,000 offenders come in every year with sentences of six months or less, many for drug possession, fraud, forgery and other nonviolent offenses.

He encourages lawmakers to re-evaluate sentencing options for these crimes.

He said a few states tried to relegate offenders with sentences of less than a year to county jails. But jails didn’t have the necessary beds, either, prompting judges to retaliate by issuing sentences of one year and one day.

"If we had buckets of money, it wouldn’t be a problem, but we don’t have buckets," said Sen. Brent Steele, R-Bedford, chairman of the Senate Corrections, Criminal and Civil Matters Committee.

Steele is filing a bill for the 2010 legislative session which would allow non-violent offenders who have served at least half their sentence to post a bond to be released from prison early.

The percentage of the sentence that must be served is flexible, he said. But an important part of the program would be having a family member also sign the bond and take a role in the offender’s behavior on release.

"It’s like early parole," Steele said. "But with a financial stake."

Posted by Marcia Oddi on October 31, 2009 09:01 AM
Posted to Indiana Government