INCARCERATION TREND REVERSES

State reports fewer inmates for first time in 30 years. Lawmakers
should pursue policies that make such reductions a goal.

South Carolina's prison population broke a three-decade chain of
growth this year. And though the decline could be a statistical
anomaly, this still is noteworthy if only for the inherent symbolism
and perspective it provides on inmate growth.

The inmate population in South Carolina has swelled an astonishing
827 percent since 1970. Then, this state housed 2,537 inmates. Last
year, the state incarcerated nearly 21,000 at $15,142 annually per
inmate. Despite a $33.6 million cut in funding, next year the state
will spend roughly $351 million on prisons.

At a time when state revenues are sagging and budget cuts have meant
the elimination or reduction of critical services in other
departments, it makes sense for South Carolina to devote more energy
to developing strategies to curb the incarceration rate, especially
for nonviolent offenders.

A fraction of the money spent on incarceration would be better spent
on the mentally ill or the elderly, two groups hit especially hard by
this year's budget cuts.

Comparatively, the decrease in inmate population last year is
admittedly small. At the end of 2000, South Carolina had about 1
percent fewer prisoners than it did six months before.

Yet it is significant because the number is perhaps a reflection of
slowly changing attitudes about policing and incarceration. At the
forefront of this movement is the expansion of drug courts, which
have shown promise in allowing first-time and minor drug offenders to
avoid prison. Similar programs must be encouraged.

Until now, get-tough policies lengthened sentences and diminished the
chances for parole without accounting for the expense of
incarceration. Drug court and the like are a noted departure from
those policies that fueled the enormous growth in prison construction
and the inmate population.

Predictably, given this state's conservative lawmaking, South
Carolina has been among the leaders in locking up a larger proportion
of its citizens. The latest federal numbers said the state is eighth
in the number of inmates per capita. At times, this state has been
No. 1.

South Carolina is building more prisons in anticipation of more
inmates. While it is possible that the prison population could
further shrink, criminologists predict a population miniboom among
those in the highest crime-committing ages. After more than a decade
of falling crime rates, this nation could be in for another crime
wave.

In preparation of that possibility, it is even more urgent for this
state's leadership to get out in front on investing in education,
alternative sentencing and drug treatment programs that have the goal
of reducing this state's prison population.

It is not inconsistent for us to continue to be tough on crime while
also considering the price we pay when so many of our citizens are
behind bars burning precious tax revenues.