OPENING PRISON DOORS

Legislators Had No Real Choice But To Expedite Parole Process

Head for the hills! Hundreds, no, thousands, of Alabama prisoners are about
to be set free to menace law-abiding citizens!

No, it's not as dire a situation as that. But the Legislature has had to
come to terms with prisoners and finances. And, because the state must
balance its budget, finances prevailed.

The state parole board will increase from three to seven members with the
goal of putting from 5,000 to 6,000 inmates back on the streets during the
next year.

The prisons don't have the facilities to hold them. The state doesn't have
enough money to send them to prisons in other states - which was a bad idea
anyway because if they violate Alabama law then Alabama should be
responsible for their incarceration and rehabilitation.

Those paroled will be non-violent offenders - many, probably, imprisoned
under Alabama's draconian anti-drug laws that don't stop the proliferation
of drugs but do put a burden on taxpayers to house, feed and guard.

Many will be prisoners who are eligible for parole anyway but are slowly
working their way through the system. The new parole board members will
speed the process.

(And many of those released will find it easier to regain their voting
rights under a bill that Riley and a majority of the Legislature agreed upon.)

Alabama's legislators haven't relished the predicament they've been put in.
Most of them have been gung-ho anti-crime, with the emphasis on
incarceration over alternative sentences.

But those same legislators know Alabama voters are in no mood for raising
taxes, even though they support long sentences for criminals.

That double bind has caught up with the Legislature as it tries to beat an
end-of-the-month deadline for passing a budget. So the more economical
route of setting free nonviolent offenders was chosen.

Not that it's going to be as simple as that. Unless the state helps
prisoners with drug treatment, housing and jobs, expect to see many of them
play revolving door with the system. They'll be back in cells quickly, and
others will be set free.

The Legislature did allocate more officers and more anti-drug centers, but
will they be enough to keep former inmates from making crime a career?

The situation makes it clear that a priority of the next regular session is
more intensive work on sentencing changes recommended by Attorney General
Bill Pryor and a special commission, as well as more alternative forms of
punishment for law-breakers.

Otherwise, Alabama is going to find itself back in the same situation - too
many prisoners, not enough money - sooner rather than later.