REPEAT PROBLEMS THE ISSUE Alabama's repeat offender law is causing expensive problems in the overcrowded prison system. WE SUGGEST The law should be fine tuned to give judges more discretion when sentencing repeat offenders. Alabama has a reputation for being tough on crime, so tough, in fact, that the state's already over-crowded prisons are bursting at the seams. The problem isn't that Alabama is a high-crime state. The problem is multi-faceted, but one of the main culprits in prison overcrowding is an inflexible repeat offender law. The law does not take into consideration length of time between convictions and the severity of previous crimes. Known as the "three-strikes-and-you're-out" law in Alabama, it leaves judges virtually no discretion for sentencing a person convicted of a third felony. As a result, Alabama's prisons are coping with an aging inmate population that is costing taxpayers more money and placing the state in jeopardy of a federal court takeover. There are almost 8,600 inmates serving time under the habitual offender act, and half of them were given tougher sentences after their third convictions were for property or drug crimes. And many of them, because of their age, require more medical attention than younger inmates. Habitual offenders receive longer sentences, which in some cases is appropriate because of the violent nature of their crimes. Some are sentenced to life in prison. The law is not flexible; it does not allow judges to weigh the nature of the offenses and other factors when passing sentence. As a result, some nonviolent offenders are taking up prison space that would be better used for violent offenders and major drug offenders. Being tough on crime is good, but when the toughness is not leavened with common sense and practicality, it is simply hard-headed-demagoguery. Alabama has a prison population of 27,000 inmates. That's twice the number the system was designed to house. Adding to the problem is the lack of state money to adequately staff and operate prisons. It's a recipe for disaster. A good place to begin correcting the problems is with a rewritten habitual offender law. Judges should have the discretion to modify sentences based on the severity of offenses, which would ease the pressures on the already strained correctional system.
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