Pubdate: Tue, 08 Jul 2003
Source: Western Front, The (WA Edu)
Copyright: 2003, The Western Front
Contact:  http://westernfront.wwu.edu/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/994
Author: Cari Lyle

RELEASING 'LOW-RISK' INMATES IRRESPONSIBLE

The Washington State Department of Corrections released approximately 280 
inmates last week because the state legislature approved Senate Bill 5990 
in April. The Senate passed the bill in an attempt to close the state's 
$2.65 billion budget deficit.

This decision, however, has damaging consequences and will not solve the 
budget problem.

The bill allows eligible, low-risk prisoners, such as sex or drug offenders 
who show good behavior or performance, to be released up to 50 percent 
earlier than originally sentenced. It also reduces, and in some cases, 
eliminates supervision of released inmates.

Releasing convicts into the community before completing their full 
sentences will cause the crime rate to skyrocket. According to statistics 
provided by the state's Department of Corrections, approximately 35 percent 
of current inmates have previous prison experiences. Although the prisoners 
being released are considered low risk, the chances that they will again 
commit crimes are high.

Prisoners should not be rewarded with early release when they have shown 
good behavior in a correctional facility. This ingrains in inmates the idea 
that they can weasel out of any dilemma with only minor consequences. 
Prisoners will not receive the discipline that is needed before being 
released back into the community, and larger, more harmful crimes could 
occur as a result.

By 2005, an estimated 550 prisoners will be released into the community. 
This threatens citizens' sense of security. Citizens expect and deserve to 
feel safe within their own communities. The trust of citizens will rapidly 
disappear as more inmates receive early releases and flow into homes next 
door and down the street.

Children especially will suffer. Not only are children easy targets for sex 
offenders being released, they also present a strong market for drug 
traffickers. According to the Washington State Department of Corrections, 
more than 80 percent of the inmates released into Whatcom County last week 
are drug offenders. Past connections with drug dealers and users will 
enable former convicts to make drugs readily available for curious adolescents.

The Senate has a duty to take care of its people, and several legislators 
argue that the bill is a positive change. It costs approximately $24,000 
per year to provide housing, food and health care to each prisoner. By 
releasing low-risk criminals and cutting costs for supervision, the state 
is expected to save nearly $40 million - a small step toward closing the 
budget deficit. It does not seem the lawmakers considered the additional 
costs that would occur by passing this bill.

In the end, however, the state will end up spending just as much - if not 
more - money. The state will have to pay for the legal costs of arresting 
these released prisoners several more times. When many of them are 
inevitably sent back to jail, the state will be forced to once again pay 
for their housing costs.

Finding a solution to closing the state's budget deficit will not be easy. 
If lawmakers insist on saving money on prisoners, then they must go about 
it in an entirely different way.

If the state is willing to put so many drug offenders back on the street, 
it should not have put so many behind bars. It would be more worthwhile if 
drug offenders were sent to treatment centers at the time of their arrest. 
Police and court costs are less than $2,400 for the average treated client. 
Also, the likelihood of felony arrests decreases after the completion of a 
treatment program by 33 percent, according to a report by the Department of 
Social and Health Services.

With the new bill, the criminal justice system will be focused on reducing 
the number of excess prisoners than with the well-being of society as a 
whole. The Senate needs to realize that the benefits of giving criminals 
treatment and counseling will be much higher than needlessly releasing them 
without the supervision they obviously still need.
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MAP posted-by: Tom