irisheyes66
01-11-2005, 06:59 PM
Penitentiaries should be reserved for the violent
<Reprinted from the Springfield, Missouri News-Leader.com>
The same set of statistics can lead to one of two conclusions:
• Missouri is tougher on crime than Kansas is.
• Kansas is smarter than Missouri is.
We believe the second conclusion comes closest to the truth.
A Kansas City Star analysis found that one in 20 Missouri men is behind bars or on parole. The state has the eighth-highest imprisonment rate in the nation. Missouri's prison population has doubled since 1990, requiring the building and staffing of several new prisons.
This would be reason enough for concern. But it's just the beginning.
Missouri, with twice the population of Kansas, has more than three times as many inmates. And the composition of the inmate populations is considerably different. Less than one-third of the Kansas inmates are nonviolent offenders. Fully half of Missouri prisoners are.
That's a lot of money going to lock away people who have not threatened another person. Or, to put it into raw numbers: If Missouri kept every violent offender in prison but matched Kansas' ratio, we would imprison at least 7,500 fewer people. That would save the expense of three or four prisons. Using the amount the Department of Corrections says it spends per prisoner, that amounts to $352,000 a day or $128.7 million per year.
Because alternative sentencing costs a fraction of what prison requires, that would provide a healthy chunk of cash for more productive uses — lowering elementary class sizes, keeping college tuition down, hiring more Highway Patrol troopers, enforcing underage drinking laws.
Few politicians get elected by promising to be creative on crime. Being tough on crime gets votes, which is why Missouri lawmakers have passed tougher crime laws and demanded stricter sentencing practices.
Being tough on crime, though, comes with a cost. There are the obvious ones: Every dollar spent on prisons is a dollar unavailable for education and other uses. There are also intangible costs: Not all the lessons learned in prison are about punishment, restoration and rehabilitation. It's also a good place for crooks to learn their craft and make new connections. If you want to turn a nonviolent offender into a violent one, prison is the place to send him.
A 2003 state law sought to push the state toward more work-release programs, home incarceration and other alternative sentencing for nonviolent offenders. Drug courts are another option.
The large-scale use of any or all of these options would be smarter than what Missouri is doing today. It will require political will to make it happen.
But if Kansas politicians were able to create a more intelligent corrections system, surely Missouri politicians can do the same. We ought to be spending tax money more wisely. Reserving prison for violent offenders is smarter than what we're doing now.
Attached image:
The old Jefferson City Correctional Center
(Associated Press File Photo)
<Reprinted from the Springfield, Missouri News-Leader.com>
The same set of statistics can lead to one of two conclusions:
• Missouri is tougher on crime than Kansas is.
• Kansas is smarter than Missouri is.
We believe the second conclusion comes closest to the truth.
A Kansas City Star analysis found that one in 20 Missouri men is behind bars or on parole. The state has the eighth-highest imprisonment rate in the nation. Missouri's prison population has doubled since 1990, requiring the building and staffing of several new prisons.
This would be reason enough for concern. But it's just the beginning.
Missouri, with twice the population of Kansas, has more than three times as many inmates. And the composition of the inmate populations is considerably different. Less than one-third of the Kansas inmates are nonviolent offenders. Fully half of Missouri prisoners are.
That's a lot of money going to lock away people who have not threatened another person. Or, to put it into raw numbers: If Missouri kept every violent offender in prison but matched Kansas' ratio, we would imprison at least 7,500 fewer people. That would save the expense of three or four prisons. Using the amount the Department of Corrections says it spends per prisoner, that amounts to $352,000 a day or $128.7 million per year.
Because alternative sentencing costs a fraction of what prison requires, that would provide a healthy chunk of cash for more productive uses — lowering elementary class sizes, keeping college tuition down, hiring more Highway Patrol troopers, enforcing underage drinking laws.
Few politicians get elected by promising to be creative on crime. Being tough on crime gets votes, which is why Missouri lawmakers have passed tougher crime laws and demanded stricter sentencing practices.
Being tough on crime, though, comes with a cost. There are the obvious ones: Every dollar spent on prisons is a dollar unavailable for education and other uses. There are also intangible costs: Not all the lessons learned in prison are about punishment, restoration and rehabilitation. It's also a good place for crooks to learn their craft and make new connections. If you want to turn a nonviolent offender into a violent one, prison is the place to send him.
A 2003 state law sought to push the state toward more work-release programs, home incarceration and other alternative sentencing for nonviolent offenders. Drug courts are another option.
The large-scale use of any or all of these options would be smarter than what Missouri is doing today. It will require political will to make it happen.
But if Kansas politicians were able to create a more intelligent corrections system, surely Missouri politicians can do the same. We ought to be spending tax money more wisely. Reserving prison for violent offenders is smarter than what we're doing now.
Attached image:
The old Jefferson City Correctional Center
(Associated Press File Photo)