Our View

PLAN TO REDUCE PRISON POPULATION CUTS COSTS, IS GOOD POLICY

Sometimes there is an upside to a state budget crisis.

In the Senate last week, lawmakers looking to find ways to save money gave
initial approval to a bill that should reduce Missouri's ever-increasing
prison population.

It is a move that should have been made years ago, and in the state's
current financial situation must be embraced.

Under the legislation, sponsored by Sen. Harold Caskey, D-Butler, and
written with the help of prosecutors, the growth in inmate numbers would be
reduced by reducing maximum sentences for the least serious felonies,
allowing early release of certain nonviolent offenders and allow a
treatment sentencing option for drug offenders.

Caskey estimates more than 1,500 beds would be freed right away as a direct
result of his bill, the equivalent of one full prison. The state would save
$10 million in the next fiscal year, and by 2006, the savings would more
than double.

In these economic times, the state needs to cut costs wherever it can.
Caskey's plan delivers permanent savings. Moreover, it establishes good
policy. Even in the fattest years, Missouri should not be spending millions
of dollars to incarcerate nonviolent offenders. State resources should go
to schools, not prisons.