Pubdate: Wed, 19 Nov 2003 Source: Greenwood Commonwealth (MS) Copyright: 2003 Greenwood Commonwealth Contact: http://www.gwcommonwealth.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1541 Author: Sid Salter Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?159 (Drug Courts) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/prison.htm (Incarceration) DRUG COURTS CAN SLICE PRISON COSTS Justice Department Report Shows That Criminal Justice Experiment Is Working. JACKSON - As Gov.-elect Haley Barbour prepares to take office in January, he faces the conundrum of his no-new-taxes pledge on the campaign trail against the reality of a whopping $70 million deficit in the state's Department of Corrections. Simply put, Mississippi can't afford to house the prisoners we already have in the state's penal system - much less the new one's pouring in each day under the state's "85 percent" rule that mandates that prisoners serve at least that percentage of their original sentence before being eligible for parole. One alternative to the runaway costs of operating the state's prison system is the statewide implementation of drug courts on the model of the successful program that has been operated in the state's 14th Circuit Court District by Senior Circuit Judge Keith Starrett since 1999 in Lincoln, Pike and Walthall counties. Like Starrett, there are a number of enlightened, pragmatic judges in Mississippi who have started or are attempting to organize drugs courts in their venues - including recent converts Madison County Youth Court Judge William Agin and Eighth District Circuit Judge Vernon Cotton of Carthage, who serves Leake, Neshoba, Newton and Scott counties. Drug courts function such that after an offender has been indicted for and pleads guilty to possession of illegal drugs - excluding repeat or violent offenders and those charged with sale of drugs - the offender can serve his sentence through intense supervision and treatment mandated by the court rather than in prison. In addition to those cited above, drug courts already function in Hinds, Hancock, Harrison, Stone, Leflore, Sunflower, Washington, George and Greene counties. Adams County Youth Court and Ridgeland Municipal Court also have drug courts. Five more drug courts are planned to serve Adams, Amite, Franklin, Wilkinson, Bolivar, Coahoma, Quitman, Tunica, Forrest and Perry counties and the youth court in Forrest County. How is the drug court experiment working? The U.S. Justice Department cites the following national statistics: - - An estimated 61,000 (16 percent) convicted jail inmates committed their offenses to get money for drugs. - - An individual who has a severe addiction commits nearly 63 crimes a year. - - Incarceration of drug-using offenders costs between $20,000 and $50,000 per person per year. The capital costs of building a prison cell can be as much as $80,000. In contrast, a comprehensive drug court system typically costs less than $2,500 annually for each offender. - - In 2001, drug offenders accounted for 20.4 percent of sentenced state inmates and 55 percent of sentenced federal inmates. - - Drug use is substantially reduced among defendants while they are participating in drug court programs. For most participants who graduate from the programs (ranging from 50 to 65 percent), drug use is eliminated altogether. - - According to a preliminary report entitled "Estimate of Drug Court Recidivism Rates" - which followed more than 2,000 graduates from 100 drug courts - the recidivism rate for one year after graduation was 16.4 percent and 27.5 percent two years after graduation. Figures for individuals who were imprisoned for drug offenses, instead of entering a drug court, are 43.5 percent and 58.6 percent, respectively. Some judges and lawmakers around the state reject the worth of drug courts. But none of those politicians - frightened to be perceived as "soft" on crime - has offered any advice to taxpayers on how to make up the $70 million Corrections Department deficit. - --- MAP posted-by: Larry Seguin