STUDY: EXPAND PRISONS, DRUG TREATMENT

A state panel is recommending the expansion of existing prisons and
the construction of a 500-bed drug-treatment and pre-release facility
as the cornerstone of its plan to accommodate the state's growing
prison population.

The governor's prison and jail overcrowding commission, which
released its report Tuesday, also proposes expanding mental-health
programs, increasing the number of parole and probation officers and
giving judges more discretion in sentencing drug-dependent,
non-violent offenders.

The panel's suggestions contradict some significant proposals of
another state committee examining prison overcrowding. The
legislative program review and investigations committee late last
year called for the state to turn away from construction and instead
rely on community-based programs and shorter prison stays to ease
overcrowding.

Department of Correction Commissioner John J. Armstrong leads the
prison and jail overcrowding commission. That panel includes Arthur
L. Spada, Commissioner of the Department of Public Safety; Chief
State's Attorney John M. Bailey; and Lt. Gov. Jodi Rell. The
legislative program review and investigations committee is an arm of
the state legislature made up of staff members.

Christina Polce, a spokeswoman for the Department of Correction,
attributed the differences in the recommendations to the overcrowding
commission's aim to provide alternatives to incarceration and give
judges discretion while holding criminals responsible for their
crimes.

"We don't want to seem soft on crime," said Polce.

Polce said the 500-bed facility would hold inmates in need of drug
treatment for her agency, for the judicial branch and for the
departments of parole and probation. State officials estimate that
about 80 percent of inmates need drug treatment.

The report does not make a recommendation on where the facility would be built.

The center could also help to resolve some of the racial disparity in
the state's prison system, a long-held concern of lawmakers and
civil-rights advocates.

About 70 percent of the state's inmates are black or Hispanic, while
those groups make up approximately 20 percent of the overall state
population. Many of those inmates were arrested as a result of
aggressive drug-enforcement efforts in urban areas. Many drug-related
crimes have mandatory minimum sentences.

Polce said that building the facility proposed by the commission on
overcrowding and giving judges more discretion could provide an
alternative to placing drug-dependant offenders in prison.

"We're trying to serve the needs of the legislature and address the
concerns they have brought up," said Polce, adding that the committee
would be working to develop legislative support for its plan.

The report lists prison expansion as its first recommendation. The
state has been seeking to add 1,600 prison beds to a system that
holds about 16,700 inmates in 20 facilities. Some municipalities that
host prisons have expressed interest in having the state expand the
facilities in their towns.

State Rep. Michael Lawlor, D-East Haven, said he's on board with the
report's recommendations.

"I thinks that it's a very balanced proposal," Lawlor said.

Lawlor, chairman of the legislative's judiciary committee, said more
effort should be made to put non-violent offenders into treatment
programs, reserving expensive prison beds for violent criminals. He
said that shift in emphasis is happening around the country.

Lawlor said he also supports efforts to lower the caseloads for
parole and probation officers and to slowly move inmates back into
the community.

"One day you're in prison, and the next day you're out the door,"
Lawlor said. "There's not enough preparation in getting them out the
door," he said. He predicted that the result of more pre-release
treatment would be reduced recidivism rates.