Pubdate: Sun, 18 Nov 2007
Source: Spartanburg Herald Journal (SC)
Copyright: 2007 The Spartanburg Herald-Journal
Contact:  http://www.goupstate.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/977
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?159 (Drug Courts)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/testing.htm (Drug Test)
Note: Subtitle truncated as on website

CORRECTING PRISON POLICY

Prison should be reserved for those who pose a

To relieve prison overcrowding, save state taxpayers  money and 
preserve families, South Carolina should  limit the use of its 
prisons to housing truly dangerous  or habitual criminals.

The state's corrections facilities are crowded with  drug offenders 
and other nonviolent criminals. This  needlessly destroys families 
and wastes the resources  of the state.

Attorney General Henry McMaster says he has a plan to  address the 
problem. While much of the public attention  to his proposal has 
focused on his plan to abolish  parole, his design includes 
alternatives to prison for  many offenses.

The attorney general wants to expand the use of drug  courts. These 
courts establish an intensive,  court-supervised form of probation 
for drug offenders.  They are forced into treatment and must 
successfully complete that treatment or be sent to prison.

McMaster wants to extend that concept to apply it to  other crimes as 
well. He would establish a middle court  between Magistrate Court and 
Circuit Court that would  provide the same intensively supervised 
probation.  Defendants would be held responsible for staying in 
school or staying employed, drug testing, paying  restitution and 
other conditions set by the court. If  they failed to abide by those 
conditions, they would be  incarcerated.

The drug courts and the middle courts could keep  nonviolent 
offenders out of the prison system,  relieving the pressure on the 
state's corrections  system. They would also save the state money, 
since it would be less expensive to deal with a criminal 
through  drug or middle court than to house him in prison.

These types of punishment and supervision can also  serve to preserve 
the economic viability of an offender  and his family, allowing him 
to maintain employment and  support his family rather than spending 
years in prison  and being unable to find a job when he is 
released.  They are also easier on families than the years 
of  separation mandated by prison sentences.

McMaster pairs these plans with his proposal to abolish  parole. The 
general effect would be to reserve prison  space for the truly 
violent and dangerous criminals,  who would be kept behind bars longer.

It's a worthwhile plan that should be considered by the  General 
Assembly, but that's where the greatest danger  lies. South 
Carolina's lawmakers love to appear tough  on crime. They are quick 
to pass laws requiring lengthy  prison sentences but are not willing 
to pay for the prisons necessary to house the growing numbers they  send there.

If the legislature were to approve McMaster's plan to  abolish parole 
without expanding drug courts and  establishing a middle court 
system, it would worsen the  state's prison problems.
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