Pubdate: Sun, 01 Mar 2015
Source: Tampa Bay Times (FL)
Copyright: 2015 St. Petersburg Times
Contact: http://www.sptimes.com/letters/
Website: http://www.tampabay.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/419
Author: John Romano
Page: P3

GET SMARTER, NOT TOUGHER, ON DRUG SENTENCING

THREE YEARS AGO, the governor made a mistake. A costly, shortsighted,
foolish mistake. It was the summer of 2012, and states all around the
nation were looking for ways to reform prison systems that were
bleeding budgets and taxpayers dry. In a rare burst of wisdom and
cooperation, the Florida Legislature came together to pass a bill that
would cut prison costs and, hopefully, slow the perpetual cycle of
drug-addicted convicts booking return trips to jail cells. More than
97 percent of your state representatives and senators voted in favor
of this commonsense bill.

And Rick Scott vetoed it. It was a mistake. People make mistakes, some
more than others. To me, the greater sin has been the failure to
rectify this blunder. And on the eve of another legislative session,
it should no longer be a forgotten priority. What exactly are we
talking about?

As originally written, the bill allowed some nonviolent drug offenders
who had served at least 50 percent of their sentence to be eligible
for release after completing an additional six months in custody in a
drug treatment program.

You might have noticed that description was very specific. It applied
only to nonviolent criminals. It specified they must remain in custody
while completing a drug program. And it involved a screening system to
weed out any potential public threats.

In other words, the bill did not throw open prison doors. Before an
inmate could even be considered, the judge and prosecutor from their
original case had to give their blessing.

The point was not to invent get-out-of-jail-free cards, but to direct
addicts into rehabilitation so they would be less likely to return to
their drugfueled ways. Or, if you prefer, so they would be less likely
to be a drain on your wallet.

You see, the prison system in Florida costs you dearly. Somewhere
around $2.2 billion is spent every single year on the state prison
system. And that number never seems to budge because we haven't
figured out how to spend smarter.

'We need more programming inside of prisons for substance abuse and
mental health treatment and education and vocation,'' said Barney
Bishop, president of the Florida Smart Justice Alliance. 'We can help
people stay out of prison if we understand this should be the
Department of Corrections and not the Department of Incarceration.''
Obviously this bill would not have made a huge dent in that budget. In
its first year, only 337 inmates out of a prison population of 100,000
were even scheduled to participate.

So the DOC might have seen a minuscule savings initially because the
cost of keeping someone in a rehab facility is slightly cheaper than a
prison, but the greater value was in the potential of lowering the
state's recidivism rate.

This is why the idea was not unique to Florida. During 2011-12, more
than a dozen states agreed to various reforms for nonviolent criminals
in the hope of saving money. Texas passed reforms. Louisiana passed
reforms. Georgia's reforms were expected to save the state hundreds of
millions of dollars. And yet Scott refused.

His reasoning was that justice was not served if prisoners were
released early. At best, his reasoning was painfully simplistic. At
worst, it was willfully ignorant.

The average drug sentence in Florida is around three years. If
offenders serve the state's mandatory 85 percent, then they are behind
bars for roughly 30 months. Under the bill Scott vetoed, they would
have spent at least 18 months in prison and another six months in a
rehab facility so they would have been off the streets for a minimum
of 24 months. Or six months less than usual. And so a bill that could
potentially save money and make productive citizens out of drug
offenders was nixed. Instead, we have tried to save money in prisons
by cutting corners, cutting staff and creating such unsafe conditions
the federal government may intervene.

The Smart Justice Alliance supported the legislation in 2012 but now
advocates for increased funding for additional education and
rehabilitation programs. And it is true the Legislature and Scott
passed laws last year designed to make reintroduction into society
more seamless.

Yet, three years later, Florida is still one of the worst places in
America to get arrested for drug possession because you'll stay in
jail longer with less opportunity for rehab.

Once upon a time, the state Legislature realized that was a losing
proposition.

It's time for lawmakers to revisit the idea of being smarter rather
tougher.
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