Pubdate: Tue, 06 May 2003
Source: St. Louis Post-Dispatch (MO)
Copyright: 2003 St. Louis Post-Dispatch
Contact:  http://www.stltoday.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/418
Author: David A. Lieb

AS PRISONS FILL, STATE LOOKS TO RELAX SENTENCING LAWS

JEFFERSON CITY - Meet Tony Meyer, a 30-year-old white man serving a 10-year 
prison sentence for making and selling drugs.

Growing up in rural west-central Missouri, Meyer started smoking marijuana 
at age 14. He dropped out of school two years later while still in eighth 
grade. And he began using cocaine and speed when he started driving to 
weekend parties in Sedalia, the biggest city around.

By age 18, Meyer was in prison for assault, although he insists he was 
simply breaking up a fight involving a friend. Since then, he has been in 
and out of the slammer several times, usually for drug offenses.

In many regards, Meyer is a fairly typical Missouri prisoner. His age, 
gender, race, crimes and repeat sentences are all fairly average, according 
to statistics kept by the Department of Corrections.

Meyer also is part of the reason that Missouri's prison population has 
doubled since 1991 to about 30,200 inmates - about the number of residents 
of Missouri's 20th largest city.

As it is, Missouri's prisoners are dispersed among about 20 institutions, 
many of which have been built in the past decade to accommodate the rising 
tide of new inmates.

Now lawmakers, many of whom had advocated longer sentences as part of a 
tough-on-crime approach, are looking for ways to slow the prison growth.

One strong motivation is the state's budget troubles, and the fact that it 
costs roughly $13,000 a year to supply housing, food and oversight for each 
inmate.

But equally motivating for some lawmakers is a growing belief that prison 
time - especially for drug users - is not a very effective correction tool.

Among the converts is state Sen. Harold Caskey, a former Bates County 
prosecutor who has sponsored many of the state's recent criminal bills. As 
a former chairman of the Senate Civil and Criminal Jurisprudence Committee, 
he also undertook an exhaustive study of the state's sentencing laws.

"We have found, like many other states, that mandatory sentences do not 
correct recidivism," said Caskey, D-Butler. "But it does add to the prison 
population."

Caskey is sponsoring legislation that encourages judges to refer 
first-time, nonviolent offenders to 120-day "shock sentences" or drug 
treatment programs, then release them on probation or parole.

The bill also allows other nonviolent offenders to petition for release 
after 120 days in prison. And it reduces the maximum sentence for the 
lowest category of felonies - things like drug possession, bad checks and 
some burglaries - from five years to four years.

If signed into law, the bill is projected to reduce the prison population 
by at least 1,542 inmates a year, saving the state more than $21 million. 
The bill has passed the Senate and awaits House debate before the 
legislative session ends May 16.

Similar proposals already have been enacted, or are pending, in other states.

In Kansas, Gov. Kathleen Sebelius signed a law just two weeks ago allowing 
community treatment programs as an alternative to prison for some drug 
offenders.

In Washington, the state Senate has passed legislation allowing some 
offenders - mostly those convicted of nonviolent drug and property crimes - 
to cut 50 percent off their sentences through good behavior, up from the 
current 33 percent.

California voters passed a law nearly three years ago requiring treatment 
instead of prison for nonviolent drug users convicted of possession for the 
first or second time. Arizona has a similar law.

"A lot of the states are recognizing there is a wealth of evidence to 
suggest that both cost savings and future crime savings can be brought 
about from this," said Ryan King, a research associate at The Sentencing 
Project, a Washington-based group that studies prison alternatives for 
nonviolent, property and low-level drug offenders.

But St. Louis County Prosecutor Robert McCulloch, president-elect of the 
National District Attorneys Association, said he and many colleagues are 
concerned that budget-cutters could take dangerous risks.

McCulloch said prosecutors are open to treatment as an option for 
nonviolent drug offenders, but he adds that such programs work only if 
well-funded.

In Missouri, demand for such drug treatment programs is currently greater 
than the supply.

Meyer, who is incarcerated for drug possession, manufacture and 
distribution convictions, participated in a drug treatment program at the 
Ozark Correctional Center as part of a previous sentence.

But he wound up involved with drugs again when released. Now he is 
voluntarily taking prison courses on substance abuse and anger management - 
with mixed results.

In December, he managed to obtain marijuana behind bars and tested positive 
for drugs during a random check. The violation earned him isolation time in 
prison.

But during a March interview at the Algoa Correctional Center, Meyer vowed 
he was ready to change - this time, for good.

"I know I'm eventually going to be out, and I'm going to have the same 
people come around. It's just up to me to leave the drugs and dope alone," 
Meyer said. "Every time I've gotten out, I think I could do just a little 
bit (of drugs), but it led me back here."

Algoa superintendent Michael Murphy, whose institution is being converted 
from medium to minimum security, describes Meyer as "a typical kind of 
person for this institution."

Some inmates have an epiphany in the prison's drug courses; many others do 
not, he said.

For Meyer, the Missouri legislation would come too late. He's long past 
being a first-time offender. And his convictions for assaulting a law 
officer and manufacturing methamphetamine likely would preclude him from 
the bill's provisions.

But Meyer said he has a developed a good perspective on the effectiveness 
of prison sentences for drug abusers. From his confines at the Algoa 
prison, he can look over the Missouri River valley and see a new, 
maximum-security prison rising in a field. It's scheduled to completed next 
year.

"They opened up all these new prisons, but to me, I don't see them doing 
anything to help anyone," Meyer said.

He says he knows, finally, what could help.

"I'd like to get into some more treatment before I get back out," he says.

The sentencing bill is SB5.
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MAP posted-by: Larry Stevens