Pubdate: Sun, 01 Dec 2002 Source: Salisbury Post (NC) Copyright: 2002 Post Publishing Co. Contact: http://www.salisburypost.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/380 Author: Tony Ramsay INMATES NEED SKILLS The overcrowding in our prisons comes from long sentences for non-violent offenders. Yet there are proposals to raise punishment levels for people in this group. This costs taxpayers $35,000 a year per inmate and creates a perfect system for making it more likely that inmates return to prison. When released, inmates receive a $45 check and have a felony record, plus parole fees to pay, restitution to make and often a family to support. Finding a decent job is essential if they are to stay out of prison. To make ends meet, many return to selling drugs or other crimes. It's a fact that inmates with a trade or skill seldom return to prison. It costs approximately $8,000 to teach an inmate a trade, versus $35,000 to incarcerate one for a year. Yet trade schools for inmates and rehab centers are being eliminated, making it more likely inmates will be repeat offenders. Nonviolent offenders make up about 53 percent of the prison population. North Carolina has spent $400 million building new prisons and expects more growth over the current 33,800 inmates. They have created a system that will produce that growth. Educating the large number of non-violent offenders would save taxpayers millions of dollars a year. Taxpayers need to recognize that something is wrong here and demand changes. Only then will taxpayers feel relief from being overtaxed. - -- Tony Ramsay Warren Correctional Institution - --- MAP posted-by: Larry Stevens