OZMINT RIGHT ABOUT PRISONS

State Must Incarcerate Fewer Inmates And
Reserve Costly Bed Space For Violent, Career Criminals

Jon Ozmint, the director of the state Department of Corrections, has
stepped forward with a challenge to lawmakers: Either reduce the
prison population by embracing alternative sentencing for nonviolent
offenders or prepare to build new prisons and, therefore, obligate
already limited state resources to Corrections.

Lawmakers have no choice. This state cannot afford to imprison more
criminals, especially for the length of time that has become typical
in the era of mandatory minimum sentences. Mandatory minimums and
tougher parole standards have lengthened prison stays. Subsequently,
both the prison population and the cost have grown.

South Carolina should restore some discretion to judges in sentencing.
But more importantly, it must join in a growing national trend of
diverting nonviolent offenders to alternative sentences that require
shorter prison stays or home detention.

By Ozmint's count, nearly half the state's prison population, 48
percent, is classified as nonviolent. They are typically simple drug
offenders, bad check writers and child support scofflaws. They are
being jailed when often it would be more cost-effective to utilize
home detention, mandate work and require drug counseling.

A crowded state prison system is being severely tested. Currently at
its 23,500-inmate capacity, it has about 500 fewer guards than three
years ago. The number of guards is not expected to grow anytime soon,
as Corrections is operating with a deficit. Nor is Corrections likely
to get the funding to build the new prisons it will need. Yet, 1,200
inmates are projected to be added this year, an amount that is
projected to stay constant.

Obviously, this combination of projected overcrowding and barely
adequate staffing is potentially explosive. Both prison employees and
inmates are likely to be put at risk, as evident in the recent rise in
assaults on inmates and prison workers. South Carolinians do not want
to be soft on criminals, but they also don't want lawless, violent
prisons where neither inmate nor employee is safe.

Order is another area where mandatory minimum sentences hurt prisons.
They undermine the time-tested reward system that keeps inmate
behavior civil. With no way to reduce a sentence with good behavior,
prisoners have little incentive to seek rehabilitation and avoid
trouble. This puts pressure on administrators.

What lawmakers should strive for is a prison population that doesn't
exceed the state's financial resources and ensures costly bed space is
being reserved for violent inmates. State prisons must be adequately
staffed to ensure safety and focus on reducing its high recidivism
rate.

For some in the General Assembly, the prospect of advocating reduced
sentences or alternatives to incarceration is politically
uncomfortable.

The fact that Corrections cannot endure more cuts and this state
cannot afford its expansion poses a problem that cannot be ignored
because of electoral politics. The Legislature must pass meaningful,
lasting reform next session.