SEARCH ON FOR PRISON ANSWERS

A Commission Says The State Must Find Better Ways To Deal With Overcrowding

Alabama must be smarter in the way it punishes nonviolent criminals, said a
key member of a panel that will soon advise the Legislature on how to fix
the state's prison system.

The Alabama Sentencing Commission, created by lawmakers three years ago,
will issue its recommendations during the legislative session that begins
March 4.

"Alabama is doing a good job with the murderers, robbers and rapists," said
Chief Assistant Attorney General Rosa Davis, who serves on the 15-member
commission. "Where we have a problem is with the lower-level offenders."

The commission will meet Friday to review a draft of its report, Davis
said. It also will review proposed legislation on pardons and paroles,
community corrections and theft.

Davis said the commission is likely to recommend changes in two broad
areas. First, judges need more options in sentencing. For example, judges
are reluctant to use probation because officers carry huge caseloads and
more counties need community corrections programs. Programs are under way
in only 18 of 67 counties.

Second, the length of criminal sentences should be adjusted to meet the
state's priorities and reflect actual time served.

Alabama's prison population is at an all-time high of about 27,000. County
governments have sued the state to force it to accept inmates from crowded
county jails. A federal judge has found the state's women's prison in
Wetumpka violates the U.S. Constitution because it is so crowded and
understaffed.

Former Department of Corrections Commissioner Mike Haley told lawmakers in
December that his agency needed a 70-percent increase in general fund
appropriations next year.

Buddy Sharpless, executive director of the Association of County
Commissions of Alabama, said the state must put more money into community
corrections as an alternative for some property offenders and drug
offenders who go to state prison.

For example, a community corrections program could put a thief to work to
pay restitution to his victim. Treatment is a better option than prison for
some drug offenders.

Even after making those changes, the state needs two new prisons, Sharpless
said, one for men and one for women.

Davis said fixing the problem will be costly.

"The best thing that could be said right now is that we're all struggling
to come up with answers," Davis said. "Nobody is going to like the price tag."

Alabama houses inmates more cheaply than any state, Davis said. The
national average is about $60 a day per inmate. The southeastern average is
about $41. Alabama pays about $27.

"What are we buying for $27?" Davis asked. "Are we buying some kind of
rehabilitation? Or are we buying warehousing? And what does warehousing do
for public safety?"