Pubdate: Sun, 26 Jan 2003
Source: Centre Daily Times (PA)
Copyright: 2003 Nittany Printing and Publishing Co., Inc.
Contact:  http://www.centredaily.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/74
Author: Lance T. Marshall
Note: Lance T. Marshall is an assistant district attorney for Centre County.
Bookmarks: http://www.mapinc.org/prison.htm (Incarceration)
http://www.mapinc.org/find?199 (Mandatory Minimum Sentencing)

LONGER SENTENCES A PROVEN SUCCESS

What should be the priorities of the criminal justice system? That may
depend upon your view of the criminal.

In one view, crime is an illness, and, like others who have an
illness, criminals -- from alcoholics who drive drunk or assault their
loved ones to thieves who steal to support their drug habit -- can be
treated and cured.

Others believe most offenders are not deranged and most crimes are not
irrational. Instead, criminal acts are freely committed by people who
often compare the expected benefits to the expected costs.

Incarceration serves two purposes: First, society is protected by
isolating the criminal from future victims. Second, the "cost" of
criminal behavior is the loss of one's freedom. Once the "cost" of
criminal behavior outweighs its "benefits," criminal behavior decreases.

It is no coincidence that, as the amount of prison time served
increases, the crime rate decreases.

Tougher sentences and a war on drugs doubled the inmate population
during the 1990s. At the same time, violent crime, as measured by the
Federal Bureau of Justice Statistics, declined 41 percent between 1994
and 1999. Whether measured as a rate (number of crimes per capita) or
in absolute terms, every category of violent crime and burglary
decreased from 1997. An October 1999 National Center for Policy
Analysis report found:

* The overall rate of serious crime fell to a 25-year
low.

* The murder rate dropped by 8 percent from 1997 and finally slumped
to the rates of the late 1960s, even falling below the average murder
rate during this entire century.

* The rates for rape and aggravated assault fell by 5 percent each,
for robbery by 11 percent and for burglary by 7 percent.

* The actual number of murders reported in 1998 was the lowest in more
than two decades.

California, home to 11 percent of the U.S. population, incarcerates
more people than any other state. In 1989, California unveiled a
1,056-bed prison at Pelican Bay that features solitary cells, minimum
human contact, strict isolation enforcement and tightly controlled
outside communications. It was vilified by "rehabilitation experts."
In 1994, after California passed its "three strikes" law, the crime
rate dramatically decreased from a high of nearly 8,000 crimes per
100,000 inhabitants in 1980 to less than 4,500 crimes per 100,000
inhabitants in 1998.

Basic human experience tells us the same as these numbers. Assume a
child is punished by his parents and sent to his room without supper.
However, after supper, the leftovers are brought to the child, and he
eats. Has the child learned there are consequences to bad behavior?
Presumably not. If there are no consequences to bad behavior, then bad
behavior continues.

In Centre County, if a criminal is sentenced to jail for a minimum of
10 months, current policy allows the inmate to earn five days of
credit for every month served. The inmate can be released from prison
50 days early. County policy also allows inmates to obtain "volunteer
trustee credit," an extra day of credit toward their sentences for
every day of volunteer community service. Inmates serving a 10-month
sentence can cut their sentences in half.

Clearfield County has no similar program. There, a criminal sentenced
for 10 months serves the full 10 months. A criminal should not be
treated differently based solely upon which side of Philipsburg a
crime is committed.

Those who favor rehabilitating the criminal can certainly point to
individual success stories. However, when looking at a national crime
problem, national statistics must be examined. For the taxpayer, it is
not easy to do a cost-benefit analysis. Prisons cost money, and
taxpayers already pay too much in taxes.

However, the No. 1 goal of any government, whether it be local, state
or federal, is the protection of its residents. Whether our war is
against terrorists or against the common street thug, we must use the
best tools available to ensure our safety. No other program has been
shown, by solid, statistical evidence, to reduce crime and protect
society more effectively than building more prisons and handing down
tougher sentences.
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MAP posted-by: Richard Lake