SENTENCING REFORM A PRIORITY

It's too bad the Legislature didn't get around to reforming the state's
sentencing laws. But if Gov. Bob Riley calls a special session, he'd be
right to put the issue on its agenda.

If there is no special session, the Legislature should make the new
voluntary sentencing guidelines a priority next year.

The guidelines are needed to bring fairness to Alabama's justice system.
Great disparities in sentencing exist that need to be eliminated. Similar
crimes can bring a one-year sentence in one county and 10 or 12 years in a
neighboring county.

Moreover, Alabama sometimes locks up nonviolent offenders for too long.

There's a pragmatic reason for sentencing reform, too: It could save
Alabama lots of money. By changing the way it sentences nonviolent
criminals, the state can reserve its prison space for the violent criminals
who need to be locked away for a long time.

With about 20,000 inmates, Alabama's prisons hold nearly twice as many
prisoners as they were designed for. But to build more prisons would be
prohibitively expensive. A recent study estimated the state would have to
spend $934 million to build enough prison space to properly accommodate all
its prisoners.

Meanwhile, overcrowding is such a problem that there's a backlog of more
than 1,200 convicts waiting in county jails for a bed in a state prison.
The state is letting some nonviolent inmates out early, but even that won't
be enough over the long term.

After four years of study, the Sentencing Commission recommended lowering
the minimum sentences for most drug-possession offenses and minor property
crimes. It also suggested a points system to help remove the disparities
found in sentencing.

The recommendations are reasonable and deserve to be put in place as soon
as possible.