LAWMAKERS LACK SENSE OF URGENCY

We appreciate the Mississippi Legislature's hard-nosed approach to crime
and punishment.

Nonetheless, we also believe the Legislature's thinking on this issue
should be informed by two key factors: Wisdom, and a sense of urgency.

Wisdom - to recognize that there are some proven alternatives to
incarceration which the state should explore.

A sense of urgency - about the escalating cost of housing inmates and
the need to make some difficult choices.

When it comes to corrections in Mississippi, "business as usual" is no
longer a viable option.

The state's 85 percent rule, which requires those convicted of a crime
to serve 85 percent of their sentences, has swelled both the prison
population and the corrections' budget.

And given the state's precarious fiscal situation, Mississippi simply
can't afford the rising cost of housing so many prisoners.

The price tag for Mississippi's 20,481 inmates is expected to balloon
to $294.5 million in fiscal year 2005, according to Chris Epps,
commissioner of the state Department of Corrections.

What to do?

First, the Legislature needs to give serious, honest consideration to
a bill it defeated earlier this year - a bill that would have reduced
prison terms for model prisoners by giving them more days off for days
they work.

Lawmakers slightly modified the 85 percent rule in 2001, freeing up
prison space by granting early release to some nonviolent, first-time
offenders. They should enact additional reforms in the statute next
year.

Second, lawmakers need to speed the implementation of programs that
are proven, legitimate alternatives to incarceration.

One such program is drug court.

Interestingly, since the 2003 Legislature approved a law allowing the
establishment of drug courts statewide, six new drug courts have been
created since July 1.

Unfortunately, though lawmakers helped create drug courts, they
refused to fund them - an economic obstacle that has delayed the
creation of additional drug courts.

The Legislature's mishandling of drug courts - a proven program -
gives rise to two important questions: 1) Why did lawmakers wait so
many years before finally approving a bill to establish drug courts?
2) Will we now have to wait a number of years before the Legislature
helps to fund them?

We hope not.

Another program the Legislature should help fund statewide is house
arrest.

Prisoners sentenced under house arrest programs wear an electronic
bracelet that monitors their movements. They are required to pay all
court fees, support their families and submit to weekly drug tests. In
some counties they must also participate in community service programs.

House arrest, which is typically limited to offenders whose crimes are
nonviolent in nature, is a viable alternative to incarceration for
some prisoners.

Mississippi's Department of Corrections is at a crossroad.

In our day of declining tax revenues and shrinking budgets, state
officials can't continue doing the same thing and expect different
results.

Our thinking must be informed by a new paradigm - e.g. modify some
prison sentences (especially those for nonviolent offenders and model
prisoners) and implement alternative programs - and a sense of urgency
about the gravity of the problem.