THROW AWAY THE KEY?

The physics of incarceration in North Carolina boils down to a simple
formula in time and space: The more time passes, the less space there
is.

In January 1997, the average daily prison population in North Carolina
totaled 30,944. As of Wednesday of this week, that number was 37,792.

When the state finishes building new prisons now under construction by
2008, reports The News & Observer of Raleigh, it still will be
approximately 400 inmates over capacity. By 2016, the state's prisons
are projected to contain 6,400 more inmates than available beds.

And when the state prison system sneezes, its local jails catch
pneumonia. Already crowded county jails, like Guilford's, could fill
with more and more convicted criminals awaiting space in state prisons.

To its credit, the Easley administration and state correction
officials are drafting a 10-year plan to build even more prisons at a
total cost of approximately $260 million. The plan would create
housing for an additional 7,650 inmates, primarily by expanding
existing prisons. It would concentrate almost exclusively on minimum-
and medium-security prison housing, where the demand is greatest but
the expense is lower. And it would call for the use of inmate labor,
where practical and appropriate, to keep expenses low.

But the solution isn't simply to build more prisons faster. Lawmakers,
judges and correction officials also would do well to consider new and
possibly more effective approaches to the problem.

They could steer more drug offenders to treatment rather than
incarceration. (Toward that end in Guilford County, a desperately
needed, long-term drug treatment facility should open by October.)

They could more aggressively pursue, and more equitably fund,
alternative sentencing programs, a number of which have proved their
mettle not only at reducing crowded jails and prisons, but at breaking
the cycle of repeat offenses -- and repeat imprisonment. The N.C.
Sentencing and Policy Advisory Commission rightly emphasizes a focus
on youthful offenders.

And they could explore less expensive options for building prisons,
including privately run facilities.

Finally, there's no question that dangerous criminals ought to be
taken off the streets and that serious crimes deserve serious
punishment. But why are so many more of us going so wrong in such
large numbers?

Fractured families? Subpar education? Lack of job skills?

We can dig for the answers. Or we can simply lock the cell door and
throw away the keys ... until there aren't any doors left to lock.