OVERFLOWING PRISON CELLS

When North Carolina revised its sentencing laws in 1994 to put more felons
behind bars for longer periods of time, legislators didn't envision the
growth industry they would create. However, that has been the result. With
the change in sentencing practices and a population boom, the prison system
has recorded phenomenal growth. In 1991, North Carolina's inmate population
hovered at 19,000. In 2000, the inmate population averaged 31,535 - a 66
percent increase during the decade.

The number of maximum-security prisoners - those deemed the most dangerous
and least likely to be successfully rehabilitated - rose even faster. In
the past decade, the number of maximum-security inmates increased from
2,111 to 5,395. Although inmate growth isn't expected to continue at that
rate, Department of Corrections officials estimate that the prison
population will grow at least 30 percent this decade. The problem is that
prisons are already at or near capacity, and they lack space to house all
the new inmates expected to walk through their doors in the next few years.
Construction will begin this year on two or three new maximum-security
prisons, and cells will be added to Central Prisons in Raleigh. But some of
the same legislators who advocated tougher sentencing laws are now having
second thoughts about a lock-'em-up-and-throw- away-the-key approach to
criminal justice. They've asked the state's sentencing commission to review
the guidelines and look for ways to slow the prison growth.

One possibility will be to reduce sentences for some felony offenses,
particularly non-violent drug violations. But that step alone isn't likely
to have much effect on recidivism, and reducing the number of repeat or
habitual offenders should be a large part of any attempt to rein in inmate
growth. A more promising option is to put more resources into
community-based rehabilitation programs, as has been suggested by the
Carolina Justice Policy Center and other groups.

Although such programs wouldn't be suitable for the most violent inmates -
murderers and rapists, for instance - they could help other felons develop
skills, gain control over substance abuse problems and learn how to better
integrate their lives into the mainstream. Building prisons is a hugely
expensive proposition. In the past decade, the state has spent about $423
million to build 19 new prisons. It's estimated that three new maximum
security prisons will cost the state $17.5 million a year each to operate,
in addition to the $7.5 million per year it will pay a private corporation
to lease each prison. It's a given that the state requires more cells in
the near future, and public safety must be the paramount consideration.

But while corrections authorities are putting up walls, they also should
put more emphasis on rehabilitation. Ultimately, it's more cost effective
to rebuild lives than to keep building new prisons.