PRISONS

State must get a grip on expenses Bureau of Justice Statistics'
figures show that Mississippi leads the nation in the percentage jump
in the state's inmate population. That should come as no surprise.

Mississippi has been building prisons - and contracting with private
firms to house inmates - as fast as it is able since it passed the
"Truth in Sentencing" law - or 85 percent rule - in 1995.

The product of "tough on crime" talk, it requires that prisoners
convicted of a crime in Mississippi serve at least 85 percent of
their sentences before being eligible for parole. And it's costly!

State lawmakers today are expected to vote on a partial veto by Gov.
Ronnie Musgrove to the Mississippi Department of Corrections budget
bill that requires private prisons be paid in full while state-run
prisons are underfunded.

Lawmakers voting to override the prison veto might have a hard time
explaining why 13,000 elderly in nursing homes could lose their
Medicaid due to underfunding, yet they want private, for-profit
prisons to get full funding.

They might have a difficult time telling constituents that public
schools are being cut $60 million, but private, for-profit prisons
are getting funding in full.

In the bill, Corrections Commissioner Robert Johnson is barred from
touching the funding for private prisons, prompting Gov. Musgrove in
his veto message to say: "Special friends of the private prison
industry won the day."

It's only part of the insanity of Mississippi's prison situation that
lawmakers support or have refused to correct.

Modifying the 85-percent rule for alternate sentencing would reduce
prison building and housing costs - the latter now nearly $17,000 to
house one inmate for one year (nearly five times the cost of a state
college tuition).

It's said, diverting only 40 people to drug court would save the
state $1 million in prison beds. About 6,000 - a third of the state's
prisoners - are serving drug offenses.

Lawmakers should draw the line somewhere. If they won't invest in
more efficiency in prison costs, they at least should not be
protecting for-profit prisons at the cost of essential services like
public schools and nursing homes.