PRISONS

Only Taxpayers Serving 'Hard Time'

Outcry is being heard about 1,200 state inmates being eligible for
early release by January, but it's clear the only ones serving "hard
time" today are Mississippi taxpayers.

In 1995, lawmakers passed the so-called "truth in sentencing" law,
which requires inmates to serve 85 percent of their sentences. The
intent was a good one: make sentences mean what they say. But
Mississippi went too far.

The federal law Mississippi's legislation was patterned after targeted
only serious offenses; state law was inclusive. The result was inmates
sentenced to hard time for offenses large and small, even petty drug
sentences, so that prison populations and prison construction exploded.

In 1994, the prison population stood at 10,669 inmates. In 2004, it's
21,252 - and growing. In 1976, the total Corrections Department budget
was $23 million; the budget request for 2005 is $303 million. The cost
of building 10 regional prisons and six private ones has added even
more.

The earned time program under which the 1,200 are eligible was passed
by the 2003 Legislature to save money: $8.07 a day for an inmate under
house arrest compared to $36.79 a day in prison. It's not letting
prisoners "loose."

Mississippi's sentencing laws do need review, to ensure justice - and
punishment - to save dollars and make sense.