Pubdate: Sat, 18 Jan 2003
Source: Lexington Herald-Leader (KY)
Copyright: 2003 Lexington Herald-Leader
Contact:  http://www.kentucky.com/mld/heraldleader/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/240
Author: John Cheves, Jack Brammer

JUDGE DENIES SUIT TO BLOCK JAIL RELEASE

More Felons Set Free Early

FRANKFORT - Attorney General Ben Chandler sued Gov. Paul Patton yesterday 
in a failed effort to block the early release of 328 more prisoners, part 
of Patton's response to the state budget crunch.

Franklin Circuit Judge William Graham denied Chandler's request to stop the 
release of Class D felons, already under way during the 9 a.m. hearing. But 
Graham agreed to consider arguments against future releases after legal 
briefs are filed next month.

Although the releases outrage many police, prosecutors and crime-victim 
groups, some criminal-justice experts suggest the releases look more 
threatening than they are, as most of the felons would have finished their 
sentences later this year, anyway.

But in his lawsuit, Chandler accuses Patton of "unconstitutionally abusing 
his executive power by seeking to 'balance the budget' on the back of the 
safety of the people." Chandler, a Democratic candidate for governor, was 
echoed yesterday by other gubernatorial hopefuls from both parties.

Managing The Money

Patton freed 567 prisoners last month by commuting their sentences. One of 
them, a convicted thief originally scheduled for release in April, was 
arrested weeks later and charged with robbing two Western Kentucky banks.

Rather than send criminals home early, Chandler said, Patton could stop 
paying $100 an hour or more to private lawyers through lucrative state 
contracts. The attorney general's staff provides the same work for $50 an 
hour, he said.

"We spend $350 million a year on personal-service contracts," Chandler said 
after the hearing.

"If this administration handled its finances a little better, it could have 
found the $1 million it claims it's saving from opening the prison gates," 
Chandler said. "This is absolutely the last area the state needs to be 
cutting. This is minimal savings at a very significant risk to the public."

In response, Patton issued a statement agreeing that early releases for 
felons are "certainly undesirable." But Kentucky faces an unprecedented 
$509 million revenue shortfall over the next three years, and the state 
Correction Department's $285 million budget must be cut further, he said.

"As governor, I have to make the hard choices. I am convinced my actions 
are proper and authorized under Kentucky's constitution," Patton said. 
"Political leaders of Kentucky have to realize that we are faced with very 
difficult decisions on the budget and have no authority to generate 
additional money."

The majority of Class D felons released yesterday were state prisoners held 
in local jails, each costing the state $28.76 a day.

Assessing The Risks

Under Patton's orders, candidates for early release cannot be convicted of 
violent or sex-related felonies. Most were drug dealers or users, thieves 
or burglars; on average, they were scheduled to finish their prison 
sentences this summer.

Patton's move is politically unpopular, but realistically, the public is at 
no greater risk if the felons are released today instead of six months from 
now, a criminologist said.

James Austin, director of the Institute on Crime, Justice and Corrections 
at George Washington University, helped the Kentucky Division of Probation 
& Parole develop guidelines to determine how likely released prisoners are 
to commit new crimes.

A study of Class D felons released in Kentucky in 1998 showed that 32 
percent returned to the Department of Corrections within three years, with 
no significant difference based on the lengths of their original sentences, 
Austin said. More than half of the felons served all of their time, he said.

"Your crime rate is not going to budge one bit because of this policy. You 
can change the length of incarceration either way, make it shorter or 
longer, and it does not affect the rate of recidivism," Austin said. "It 
does not affect public safety in the aggregate."

"That can be hard to explain to the person who is robbed or hurt by someone 
released today," he conceded.

Election-Year Ploy?

Chandler's opposition to early releases was joined by other gubernatorial 
candidates, including Kentucky House Speaker Jody Richards, a rival 
Democrat, and U.S. Rep. Ernie Fletcher and state Rep. Steve Nunn, both 
Republicans. There are better places to cut the state budget, they agreed.

"There is money that can be saved even in the Corrections budget without 
releasing prisoners ... (inmate) health care is one such area, and inmate 
transportation to hearings and medical visits," Nunn said.

There is no love lost between Chandler and Patton, who are both Democrats. 
Chandler is prosecuting Patton's close friend and chief of staff, Andrew 
"Skipper" Martin, for alleged campaign-finance violations during Patton's 
1995 gubernatorial campaign.

However, Chandler said he isn't trying to score political points off Patton 
in an election year. Chandler said he wrote Patton a letter last week 
privately asking him to reconsider the early releases for the sake of 
public safety.

Given that Patton released more prisoners yesterday, Chandler added dryly, 
"I would assume my request was denied."
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MAP posted-by: Larry Stevens