Pubdate: Tue, 02 Mar 2004
Source: Oklahoma Daily, The (OK Edu)
Copyright: 2004 Oklahoma Daily
Contact:  http://www.oudaily.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1371
Author: Fletcher Christensen, psychology and mathematics senior
Note: This paper is published by the University of Oklahoma

DON'T SPEND MONEY LOCKING UP NONVIOLENT OFFENDERS

The U.S. Department of Justice runs a neat little office called the
Bureau of Justice Statistics. These guys are tasked with assembling
all sorts of interesting information about crime in the United States,
and they issue regular reports on their findings.

Of course, most government agencies issue regular statistical reports,
so the BJS tends to get lost in the shuffle.

In August of last year, the BJS issued one of these underplayed
reports. It addressed the current prison population as well as the
number of Americans who had previously been incarcerated for
committing a crime. The BJS report stated that, at the close of 2001,
more than two million Americans were serving time in federal or state
prisons, and fully 5.6 million had served time for a criminal conviction.

To put it another way, more than 1 in 140 Americans are currently in
jail for some sort of crime. More than 1 in 50 have served time for
committing a criminal act. The numbers go to 1 in 20 for men and 1 in
6 for black men.

In the last 30 years, the number of current and former inmates has
tripled. According to BJS predictions, it will triple again. The
Bureau expects that more than 1 in 16 children born in 2001 will spend
time in jail for a criminal conviction.

That's a lot of numbers without much of my celebrated commentary.

A very large part of the prison population increase comes from the
crackdown on drug offenses over the last 30 years. So let me ask: What
purpose is served by placing drug offenders in jail?

Case the first: the drug offender has committed violent crimes. In
this case, he or she can be jailed for those offenses already. The
drug sentencing adds little benefit.

Case the second: the drug offender has not committed violent crimes.
Then we are wasting government funds to try, feed, clothe and shelter
the offender for a number of years during which, owing to the
wonderful nature of our corrections system, he or she is likely to
become a violent criminal.

Even as we do this, someone else inevitably takes the drug offender's
place as a dealer. The money is excellent, and the demand is
inexhaustible.

Net result? We lose money, we create more criminals and drugs continue
to be sold.

The money we spend incarcerating nonviolent drug offenders would
clearly be better spent providing drug education or rehabilitation
programs. Both of these have proved to be more effective than any
amount of mandatory sentencing laws. With our prisons overcrowded and
that overcrowding likely to worsen, it's time to look for ways to
prevent crime rather than punish it.

Fletcher Christensen is a psychology and mathematics senior. His
column appears every other Tuesday.
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