CORRECTING CORRECTIONS

Community Programs Put Nonviolent Offenders To Work

"Corrections is working." Maybe you've seen the words on the side of
Alabama Department of Corrections vans that ferry prison work crews. It's
meant to make the point that, indeed, the prison system does put inmates to
work.

But does Corrections really work? As in both punishing and rehabilitating
offenders, and in protecting society from dangerous felons.

In the past, it hasn't worked very well in Alabama. Inadequate funding and
shortsighted, get-tough-on-crime laws led to overcrowding, understaffing
and dangerous conditions that have made prisons more a producer of hardened
criminals and repeat offenders than a rehabilitator of convicts. The state
invested far too little in alternatives to simply locking up offenders.
Still, it's those alternatives, such as community corrections, that offer
the best hope for turning around the corrections system.

In Jefferson County, for example, District Judge Pete Johnson's drug court
has kept nearly 1,300 nonviolent drug offenders out of prison. Shelby
County's community corrections program, which includes a 100-bed
residential center and a work-release program, is self-supporting,
returning thousands of dollars to the county.

The DeKalb County program, meanwhile, not only diverts offenders from
prisons but even removes some inmates from prisons and into community
corrections.

Those examples, however, are too rare in a state with prisons in crisis.
There are only 19 such programs operating in 21 Alabama counties. That
means more than two-thirds of counties don't have these important tools of
crimefighting and rehabilitation.

That needs to change, and it would if Gov. Bob Riley and the state
Sentencing Commission have their way. They want to expand community
corrections to all 67 counties. They're on the mark.

Community corrections programs work because they punish nonviolent
criminals without sending them to prisons, freeing up space in prisons for
dangerous criminals. Or, as Ralph Hendrix, program manager for Jefferson
County's Treatment Alternatives to Street Crime, says: "Community
corrections is separating the folks you are scared of from those you are
simply mad at."

Community corrections includes programs such as work release, victim
restitution, community service, electronic monitoring, drug testing and
treatment, educational services and misdemeanor probation.

However, Alabamians shouldn't equate community corrections with being soft
of crime. Punishment such as fines, restitution and confinement within the
community often are part of the program. Rules are strictly enforced, and
those who stray face prison time.

Rather than being soft, these programs are smart. They ease the crowding of
prisons without having to build new ones, and they require offenders to
contribute to society rather than being a further burden on it.

For too long, Alabama has been dumb on crime long, mandatory sentences and
not enough rehabilitation. It's past time to correct the state's approach
to corrections.

Rather than being soft, these programs are smart. They ease the
crowding of prisons without having to build new ones, and they require
offenders to contribute to society rather than being a further burden
on it.

For too long, Alabama has been dumb on crime long, mandatory sentences
and not enough rehabilitation. It's past time to correct the state's
approach to corrections.