Pubdate: Tue, 15 Feb 2005
Source: Charleston Daily Mail (WV)
Copyright: 2005 Charleston Daily Mail
Contact:  http://www.dailymail.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/76
Author: Vicki Smith, The Associated Press
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/prison.htm (Incarceration)

REPORT: W.VA. MUST CAP PRISON POPULATION

MORGANTOWN -- West Virginia lawmakers should cap prison populations at 
current levels and fund a statewide day-reporting program for nonviolent 
offenders that could save tens of millions of dollars a year, two groups 
conclude in a new report on the explosive cost of corrections.

The Appalachian Institute at Wheeling Jesuit University and the West 
Virginia Council of Churches authored the report to be released today in 
Charleston. It was co-sponsored by Grassroots Leadership, an activist group 
in Charlotte, N.C., that focuses on criminal justice and opposes privately 
run prisons.

The number of people imprisoned in West Virginia more than doubled between 
1994 and 2004, from 2,392 to 5,032, the report says. In 2001, the state had 
the nation's highest growth rate in incarceration at 9.3 percent -- even 
though the population and crime rates remained flat.

If the trend continues, the report says, prison populations could soar 
another 35 percent by 2012.

"The state must ensure public safety. But it cannot afford to mortgage its 
economic and educational future to an ever-expanding prison system," said 
Jill Kriesky, executive director of the Appalachian Institute.

The report notes that investment in education has been nearly flat since 
1990, while the state has spent nearly $120 million to build new prisons.

The Rev. Brian O'Donnell, research director at the Appalachian Institute, 
said Wheeling Jesuit began studying corrections spending last fall in hopes 
of finding money that could be freed up for need-based scholarships.

The report advocates expansion of low-cost programs like the Lee Day Report 
Center, which serves nonviolent offenders in Marshall, Ohio, Hancock and 
Brooke counties.

In West Virginia, two of every five felony convictions stem from a 
nonviolent crime, O'Donnell said. Those people could be well served by day 
reporting centers.

Expanding them statewide would create huge savings, the report says -- $18 
million to $27 million per year with three centers, and $42 million to $63 
million with seven centers.

"Day report centers are a no-brainer," O'Donnell said. "Just fund the 
things. Were the appropriations to be made, these could move forward very 
quickly."

Gov. Joe Manchin's budget proposes an $800,000 infusion for community 
corrections.

But the Rev. Dennis Sparks, executive director of the West Virginia Council 
of Churches, would like to see at least $2 million set aside.

The report finds two main causes for prison growth: Some crimes in West 
Virginia carry longer sentences than other states impose, and state 
officials have become less likely to dole out parole. 
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