NEW SENTENCING GUIDELINES WOULD GIVE PRISONS RELIEF

Georgia leads the nation in building prisons, yet its prisons are still
full. In fact, Georgia is also a leader in the percentage of its population
locked behind bars.

If nothing changes in the next five years, the state's prison population
will swell still further, from 48,000 to 58,000. That would require a
minimum of eight new prisons, at a cost of at least $400 million, plus
additional annual operating costs of $160 million.

If those additional prisons aren't built, and if sentencing trends stay the
same, the only other option would be a major inmate-release program
supervised by the Pardons and Paroles Board or by a federal judge.

The good news is a third option will soon be available thanks to the
Governor's Certainty in Sentencing Commission, which is wrapping up 12
months of intense work to draft long-overdue and much-needed sentencing
guidelines.

If they are adopted by judges, Gov.-elect Sonny Perdue, the Pardons and
Paroles Board and the Department of Corrections, Georgia would move a long
way toward a more equitable criminal sentencing system. It would ensure
that the state is handing out similar sentences for similar offenses; that
expensive prison beds are reserved for violent, sex or career offenders;
and that an array of options would be available to punish lower-level,
nonviolent offenders.

Although created and appointed by Gov. Roy Barnes, the commission has been
strictly nonpartisan and should be studied carefully by Perdue. A change of
governors does not change the nature of the problem facing the state, or
the best advice of those who know best how to fix it.

The sentencing guidelines proposed by the commission are anything but soft
on crime. Under the current system, violent criminals, except those
convicted of a "seven deadly" sin, are still serving only 65 percent of
their sentence, for an average of 4.1 years. A major goal of the guidelines
is to ensure that violent criminals serve longer sentences.

If the guidelines are implemented, 42 percent of new admissions to prison
would be violent offenders, vs. 24 percent presently. Twice the number of
sex offenders would be going to prison, accounting for 15 percent of new
admissions.

The commission has also tackled the not-so-secret but rarely acknowledged
problem of disparity in sentencing. Two offenders with a similar record,
having committed a similar crime, often end up with vastly different sentences.

When cross-referenced by race, this inequality in sentences is appalling,
with black criminals sentenced to prison far more often and for longer
terms than white criminals under similar circumstances.

The commission also lays out a wiser approach to drug offenders, who
account for 35 percent of felony convictions. Under the current system,
half of the inmates with drug abuse problems will be back in prison within
five years of being paroled, a revolving door that costs more than a small
fortune.

Building a prison just to house the 2,600 inmates serving time for
possession of cocaine would cost $130 million, plus $57 million a year in
operating costs. But under the proposed guidelines, drug-possession
offenders would amount to 4 percent of prison admissions, vs. 17 percent today.

Instead of filling an expensive prison bed better used for a violent
offender, drug offenders would be sentenced to options ranging from intense
probation and detention (short-term jails) to work-release centers or
electronic monitoring.

For a fraction of the cost of a cellblock, Georgia could establish an
effective drug-testing program for parolees. Experience in other states
indicates such programs help to keep as many as 50 percent of parolees away
from drugs. For the other 50 percent, the system establishes consequences
for failing.

The commission's work deserves a full and honest hearing from Perdue,
particularly in these tough financial times. If the new governor gets
behind the commission and its recommendations, he will also help
re-establish public faith in the criminal justice system. If a victim
learns that her assailant has been sentenced to 10 years in prison, she can
be certain that he will indeed serve all or most of that term.

If Perdue instead chooses to reject or table the proposed guidelines, he
will have to explain to taxpayers why he has condemned them to paying for
the construction and operation of still more prisons. He will also owe
victims an explanation why violent offenders continue to be released early.