SENTENCING REFORMS

Missouri Legislature

THE MISSOURI House has a chance today to make the state's criminal
sentencing system more fair and less costly. The House should pass Sen.
Harold Caskey's sentencing reform bill, which would decrease the prison
time served by many first-time, nonviolent offenders.

Passing the bill will require some fancy legislative footwork. Mr. Caskey,
D-Butler, attached his reforms to a crime bill, HB 198, that is stalled in
the House because of a poorly thought-out provision outlawing both
reproductive and therapeutic cloning. At one point the provision was
written so badly that it seemed to ban some kinds of infertility treatments.

Democratic Gov. Bob Holden sent word that he would veto the crime bill with
the cloning provision. House Speaker Catherine Hanaway, R-Warson Woods,
didn't take a public position, but Kim Green, Mr. Caskey's assistant, said
the speaker had made it clear she opposed the cloning ban because of the
impact it could have on research at Washington University.

Still, Sen. Matt Bartle, R-Lee's Summit, wouldn't give up on the cloning
provision. That required Mr. Caskey to revive an earlier version of his
sentencing bill, SB 5, which already has passed the Senate. If all goes
well, the House will take up SB 5 this morning, minus the cloning language.

Unfortunately, two progressive revisions to the death penalty will go down
along with the crime bill. One would bar the execution of murderers who
committed the crime at age 16 or younger. The other would permit the death
penalty only if all members of the jury agree to impose it.

Mr. Caskey's sentencing reforms are much needed. Between 1993 and 2001,
Missouri's prison population almost doubled, jumping from 15,409 inmates to
30,200. Over the past year, the state's prison population has increased
twice as fast as that of the rest of the nation - 6.6 percent versus 2.8
percent.

Mr. Caskey has long argued - and he has the data to prove it - that rural
judges are sending lesser offenders to prison for relatively long terms.
Drug possession is the most common reason new prisoners are locked up in
Missouri. Often, judges send nonviolent felons to prison for a 120-day
shock sentence, then leave them there past their release date. The Caskey
bill should end that practice and allow for the early release of
nonviolent, first-time offenders.

The reforms would eliminate the need for 1,500 more prison beds, saving the
state $10 million this year and $21 million in the years to come. It's not
often that legislators have such a win-win choice.