Pubdate: Tue, 12 Nov 2002
Source: Times-Journal, The (Fort Payne, AL)
Copyright: 2002 Times-Journal
Contact:  http://www.times-journal.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1883
Author: Steven Stiefel, staff writer

ARE MORE PRISONS THE RIGHT ANSWER?

Are we just going to keep building more and more prisons?

Is passing more and more taxes on working people in order to house 
criminals who refuse to earn their way in society really the answer?

In my conversations with some judicial figures, I have learned people 
sometimes are sentenced to probation simply because there isn't enough room 
for them in jail.

We sure don't want to let pedophiles and murderers roam free so we can move 
in someone who stole some lip gloss and a bikini at Wal-Mart, but you 
shouldn't be able to take whatever you want whenever you want it ­ without 
paying for it, anyhow.

We are going to build a new jail in DeKalb County, and the sooner the 
better. We need to do it ourselves before the federal government gets 
involved. That would be devastating to our county from a financial standpoint.

Law enforcement officials tell me drugs are involved in the majority of 
crimes ­ domestic violence aggravated by intoxication or stealing things to 
pawn for drug money.

It sounds corny, but it is true. Don't do drugs. People who buy drugs 
support bad people. They enslave themselves.

That said, we should throw the book at drug dealers and put drug addicts in 
treatment programs rather than prison.

Creative sentencing for non-violent offenders is a good thing. For some 
people, there is no stigma or fear in sending them to jail, but the thought 
terrifies most of us.

For those who have a casual attitude, perhaps the answer is for the judge 
to think of something that will punish the criminal in ways that will hit 
home for that person.

We must also consider whether sending someone to prison will harm his or 
her family.

Better to slap a monitoring device on that person and limit their 
activities rather than put him in prison for a year while his family 
starves and gets evicted.

Selfishness seems to be the core of criminal behavior. It's time to grow up 
and stop placing the burden on the rest of us.
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