Pubdate: Mon, 03 Sep 2001 Source: Kentucky Post (KY) Copyright: 2001 Kentucky Post Contact: http://www.kypost.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/661 Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/prison.htm (Incarceration) A REVOLVING DOOR Nearly a third of the inmates who leave Kentucky prisons wind up back behind bars within two years, a report issued last month found. The report, which examined 1998 statistics, said 31.6 percent of the inmates who had left prison after serving their sentence, receiving parole or winning shock probation were back within two years. While plenty high enough, that recidivism rate was actually down from a 10- year high of 34.7 percent in 1994. Moreover, the Kentucky Department of Corrections report found an even higher recidivism among prisons who had been involved with drugs. Thirty-six percent of the violent drug offenders and 32 percent of drug offenders, in general, were back in prison within two years. The numbers tell a story of the failure of our criminal justice and penal systems to deal squarely with a major contributor to crime - drugs. While the public and politicians may clamor for tougher laws and harsher sentences, until dealing with drug addiction and treatment for dependency becomes a real focus of criminal justice and corrections, expect the prison door to continue to revolve. - --- MAP posted-by: Terry Liittschwager