Pubdate: Mon, 07 Mar 2005
Source: Wisconsin Rapids Daily Tribune (WI)
Copyright: 2005 The Daily Tribune
Contact:  http://www.wisinfo.com/dailytribune/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1609
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?159 (Drug Courts)

WE NEED BETTER SCHOOLS, NOT PRISON

One of the most influential members of the state Legislature is talking 
about the need to build another prison in Wisconsin.

State Sen. Scott Fitzgerald, co-chairman of the budget-writing Joint 
Finance Committee, noted last week that the state's prisons were at 132 
percent capacity.

"I don't think creating more beds is out of the question right now," says 
Fitzgerald, R-Juneau. "Building a prison, I think, that's something that 
has to be considered, something that has to be on the table." Oh, that's rich.

At the same time majority Republicans are pushing for a tax freeze that 
probably would force more districts to shut down schools - in addition to 
cutting programs, laying off teachers and increasing class sizes - one of 
their party leaders wants us to be more open-minded about adequately 
housing criminals.

Yes, we need to have prisons. Not every crook in the state can be safely 
rehabilitated in the community.

But do we really need another one, at a cost of millions of taxpayer 
dollars? A state Department of Corrections official says no.

"We believe ... we will see a stabilization of our prison population 
without a new prison," responded Rick Raemisch, deputy secretary of 
corrections, who noted the capacity statistic is based on one inmate per 
cell. "Let's stop building our way out of this problem, because we can't." 
In effect, Raemisch makes the same argument against prison building that 
tax-freeze proponents make against Gov. Jim Doyle's proposed big spending 
increase for public education. Republicans are fond of saying you can't 
just throw money at schools to make them better.

That might be true - a Wisconsin Taxpayers Alliance study shows that some 
districts have improved test scores while spending less per pupil than the 
state average. But if the state's going to start flinging cash, most of us 
would rather see the money used on creating a better life for children than 
building more space for inmates.

Besides, if taxpayers want schools to get more creative to save money, they 
certainly would want the criminal justice system to be just as efficient.

Doyle's budget proposal has its flaws, but it would expand the authority of 
judges and probation and parole agents to order alternative sanctions for 
offenders who violate the terms of their supervision, providing more 
halfway houses and residential drug and alcohol treatment programs, 
according to The Associated Press.

Wood County recently found a creative and what seems to be a successful way 
to steer drug and alcohol abusers off a path that often leads to prison. 
The county's Drug Court uses a reward and team system to keep close track 
of offenders, provide regular counseling and treatment and turn their lives 
around.

More and more, police are keeping track of criminals through electronic 
monitoring systems that cost far less than prison.

To be fair, not all Republicans are as eager as Fitzgerald to consider 
pouring more taxpayer resources into prison construction. The other 
co-chairman of the Legislature's finance committee, Rep. Dean Kaufert of 
Neenah, calls support for a new prison "a pretty big leap for me right 
now." Not only that, but it would be a huge leap in the wrong direction.
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