Pubdate: Tue, 19 Oct 2004 Source: Clarion-Ledger, The (MS) Copyright: 2004 The Clarion-Ledger Contact: http://www.clarionledger.com/about/letters.html Website: http://www.clarionledger.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/805 Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/prison.htm (Incarceration) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/opinion.htm (Opinion) PRISONS Only Taxpayers Serving 'Hard Time' Outcry is being heard about 1,200 state inmates being eligible for early release by January, but it's clear the only ones serving "hard time" today are Mississippi taxpayers. In 1995, lawmakers passed the so-called "truth in sentencing" law, which requires inmates to serve 85 percent of their sentences. The intent was a good one: make sentences mean what they say. But Mississippi went too far. The federal law Mississippi's legislation was patterned after targeted only serious offenses; state law was inclusive. The result was inmates sentenced to hard time for offenses large and small, even petty drug sentences, so that prison populations and prison construction exploded. In 1994, the prison population stood at 10,669 inmates. In 2004, it's 21,252 - and growing. In 1976, the total Corrections Department budget was $23 million; the budget request for 2005 is $303 million. The cost of building 10 regional prisons and six private ones has added even more. The earned time program under which the 1,200 are eligible was passed by the 2003 Legislature to save money: $8.07 a day for an inmate under house arrest compared to $36.79 a day in prison. It's not letting prisoners "loose." Mississippi's sentencing laws do need review, to ensure justice - and punishment - to save dollars and make sense. - --- MAP posted-by: Larry Seguin