FIT PUNISHMENT

Ideas Surface For A 'Just, Affordable' Correctional System

Gov. Eliot Spitzer has Big Ideas like redirecting school aid, tax
relief and health-care spending. But his proposed budget also touches
on other aspects of public policy including crime and punishment.

Spitzer plans two new commissions one to target excess prison
facilities, the other to consider sentencing reforms. In both these
areas, enlightened policies could save the state and its taxpayers money.

The state prison population has dropped by some 8,400 inmates since
1999, so it's time to cut back on prison cells. After a decade of
declining crime rates, as many as 106,000 more inmates are due to
complete their sentences in the next four years. Spitzer promises
"the evolution of our entire criminal justice system into one that is
effective, just and affordable," and sensibly plans to focus on
community re-entry for those inmates.

Yet even more offenders can be diverted from the costly,
self-defeating cycle of incarceration and recidivism by treating
underlying conditions that lead to crime. Start with repealing the
harsh Rockefeller drug laws that were enacted in the 1970s as a
reflexive "tough on crime" gesture.

Even after modest reforms in 2004 and 2005, the state keeps locking
up more people each year for non-violent drug offenses. Today some
14,250 drug offenders cost taxpayers $460 million to hold in cells
that took $1.5 billion to build. More than 90 percent of those
inmates are African-American or Latino, although the majority of drug
abusers are white.

Studies show outpatient treatment is many times more effective than
prison sentences in curbing the drug abuse that causes crime, at
about one-tenth the cost. Polls suggest 74 percent of New Yorkers
favor treatment over prison for drug possession. Now is the time to
build political consensus for returning discretion to judges and
supporting alternatives to incarceration for non-violent drug offenders.

The governor also wants more attention to the needs of prisoners with
mental illness. The Correctional Association of New York suggests at
the very least ending the practice of confining mentally ill inmates
for up to 23 hours a day. What they need is psychiatric care, not
isolation that aggravates their conditions.

Other reforms proposed by the Correctional Association include:

- -- Supporting the Safe Harbor for Exploited Children Act, with
community-based programs to keep minors arrested for prostitution out
of jail and help them rebuild their lives.

- -- Emphasizing alternatives to incarceration for virtually all young
people charged with non-violent offenses. Similar initiatives in Ohio
have helped reduce youth detentions by 40 percent in the last 10 years.

- -- Granting "merit time eligibility" for domestic violence survivors
incarcerated for crimes related to their abusive treatment, so they
can earn time off their sentences.

These sensible proposals fit the framework of the "evolution"
envisioned by Spitzer's budget plan. They deserve serious attention
from the Legislature and the governor in coming weeks.