PRISONS - JUDGE RIGHT TO SANCTION STATE

Mississippi prisons have been under federal court order for so long
that a federal judge's intervention to make the state follow the law
is too often viewed as normal operating procedure.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Jerry Davis on Monday reminded the state that
federal orders on prison overcrowding must be followed.

He fined the state $1.8 million for violating the federal court orders
limiting the number of state inmates in county jails.

At the same time, he praised recent efforts of new Corrections
Commissioner Robert Johnson, Attorney General Mike Moore and prison
rights attorney Ron Welch ó who brought action against the state ó to
help bring the state into compliance with the 1985 court order

The state has violated the court's order for more than a decade.

The magistrate called the fine "an incentive plan." The state can
recoup the fine by staying in compliance. For every month the state is
in compliance, $100,000 will be returned. If in violation, it will
have to pay $100,000 per 100 inmates in county jails in excess of the
orders.

The problem is that the number of inmates is increasing, so the state
could find itself back in the same situation. Despite a massive
prison-building program, prison space remains a premium with
populations increasing.

Part of the problem is the refusal of the Legislature to revise the
so-called "Truth-in-Sentencing Law" passed in 1995. It requires
inmates to serve at least 85 percent of their sentences. The 85
percent rule was intended to apply only to violent offenders, but the
Legislature made it apply to all, filling prisons with drug and
property offenders.

Despite the crowding issue and a skyrocketing penal budget, lawmakers
fear changing the law would be a political liability, opening them to
charges of being "soft on crime."

It is not soft on crime to run a prison system that keeps the
dangerous criminals behind bars and provides alternatives for those
who can be punished and rehabilitated in other ways.

The federal court has been very patient with the state. It does not
recognize political problems as an excuse for failing to operate a
constitutional prison system. Unless the Legislature takes some
responsible action, Mississippi taxpayers could face more fines or
even more drastic sanctions.

Gov. Ronnie Musgrove should include prisons in his call for the
upcoming special session with a proposal to revise the 85 percent
sentencing rule.