Pubdate: Sun, 02 Mar 2003
Source: The Southeast Missourian (MO)
Copyright: 2003, Southeast Missourian
Contact: http://www.semissourian.com/opinion/speakout/submit/
Website: http://www.semissourian.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1322
Author: Marc Powers

MISSOURI LOOKS FOR SOLUTIONS TO GROWTH AT PRISONS

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- By at least one gauge, tough criminal sentencing 
laws Missouri enacted in the 1990s have worked: More offenders are going to 
prison and staying there longer.

In 1993, the average daily population in Missouri was 15,409 inmates. As of 
last year, that figure had nearly doubled to 29,871.

But putting and keeping more offenders behind bars has come at a price.

Part of that cost is financial, with a substantial rise in the amount 
Missouri spends on prisons. But there are social costs as well.

Missouri Supreme Court Judge Michael A. Wolff said 56 percent of those in 
state penitentiaries are there for nonviolent offenses -- primarily 
drug-related crimes. Prison often isn't conducive to correcting the 
behavior that landed such inmates behind bars in the first place, he said, 
and can be counterproductive.

"You want to punish these persons, but you have to understand most of these 
people are going to be back in their communities within five years," Wolff 
said. "The question becomes how do you want them back?"

To address the financial and social aspects, an effort is moving forward in 
the Missouri Legislature to re-examine the corrections system.

The Missouri Department of Corrections cost taxpayers $197.1 million to run 
a decade ago. With a boom in prison construction to keep up with the rising 
inmate population, the department's budget has ballooned to $565.8 million 
for the current fiscal year -- a 187 percent increase from 1993. Gov. Bob 
Holden has requested $589.4 million for corrections for the upcoming fiscal 
year.

In a recent independent report on the state budget, analyst Jim Moody said 
the rising cost of the corrections system is contributing to the state's 
overall financial problems. The spending demands of incarceration, he said, 
will only get worse.

At the current rate of growth of four to five new inmates per day, Missouri 
will have to build a new 1,596-bed prison every year, said Moody, who 
served as state budget director during Gov. John Ashcroft's administration. 
Those prisons would cost an estimated $80 million each to build and equip 
plus $30 million a year each to operate.

"With Missouri's tight budget outlook, it is unlikely this amount of money 
will be available for corrections, and if it is available, it will come at 
the cost of cuts to other programs," Moody said.

State Rep. Kevin Engler, R-Farmington, largely agrees with the report's 
findings on corrections spending, except he believes future prisons will be 
even more costly to build and run than Moody suggests.

Engler, who sits on the House committee that oversees the corrections 
budget, said his feelings about tough sentences for non-violent offenders 
have changed.

"I was one of those who used to say put them away forever," Engler said. 
"But we can't build a new prison every year. We have got to look at some 
alternatives for non-violent offenders."

Caskey's suggestion

During his 26 years as a legislator, state Sen. Harold Caskey, D-Butler, 
helped a write a large portion of the state's criminal code. With only two 
years before term limits force his retirement, Caskey has made the costs of 
the corrections system a personal priority.

Caskey is sponsoring a bill that he says would save Missouri prisons 1,958 
beds and $25 million in operational costs if in effect today.

The measure would lower the maximum sentences for lesser, non-violent 
felonies and give judges discretion on whether stricter sentences for 
persistent drug offenders should apply on a case-by-case basis.

It would also encourage statewide uniformity in sentencing, which in some 
cases varies widely from judge to judge. Under the bill, judges would have 
to consider state sentencing guidelines. They would be free to deviate from 
those recommendations, but would have to explain their reasons in writing.

During a hearing on the bill last week, several members of the Missouri 
Prosecuting Attorneys Association testified against portions of Caskey's 
bill. Their chief objection is that the bill would lower the mandatory 
minimum sentences for cases of armed criminal action not involving 
firearms, explosives or large knives.

The charge of armed criminal action was originally intended to stiffen 
punishments for gun-related offenses. However, prosecutors today broadly 
apply the law and use it as a bargaining chip in plea negotiations.

"If you ask 100 prosecuting attorneys what is their favorite and most 
potent statute, all 100 would say armed criminal action," said Cass County 
Prosecuting Attorney Chris Koster.

Caskey has removed that section of the bill and is working with the 
prosecutors on compromise language that addresses some of their other 
concerns. The measure, as modified, is expected to be debated by the full 
Senate within the next two weeks.

The bill enjoys the support of the corrections department, as well as Judge 
Wolff.

Judicial opinions

During a recent forum with members of the media, Wolff and two of his 
colleagues, Judge William Ray Price Jr. and Chief Justice Stephen N. 
Limbaugh Jr., discussed alternative sentencing methods.

At an average cost of $36 per inmate per day, Missouri "does incarceration 
on the cheap" despite the growing bite it takes out of the budget, Wolff 
said. Probation, however, only costs $4 to $7 per inmate per day.

Price touted drug courts as an innovative idea that has proved effective in 
those counties that haven chosen to adopt it.

Under the drug-court system, which is currently in place in some Southeast 
Missouri counties, offenders are subject to supervised probation and 
intensive judicial oversight. Substance-abuse treatment is also a 
component. By successfully completing the program, participants avoid prison.

Of the more than 2,000 drug-court graduates to date, only 6 percent have 
been re-arrested, Price said.

However, because of the strict requirements and supervision embedded in the 
program, the drug court graduation rate is only 50 percent.

Limbaugh said drug court isn't for all offenders. They have to honestly 
want to get their lives in order.

"Some attorneys tell their clients, 'Do the time. It will be easier for 
you,'" Limbaugh said.

Wolff said drug court judges essentially act as mothers.

"You have got to go see mom every week and tell her how you're doing," 
Wolff said. "She makes you get a job and makes you do this and that."

A former assistant prosecutor in Cape Girardeau County, state Rep. Scott 
Lipke said a balance must be struck between punishing lawbreakers and 
ensuring that there is room in Missouri prisons for those who most deserve 
to be there. Alternatives such as drug courts help achieve that, he said.

"The sentiment out there in the public is they don't want to see a violent 
offender let out early so a new non-violent offender can be put in," said 
Lipke, R-Jackson.
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