ALTERNATIVES TO PRISON NEEDED

The tough-on-crime movement that has swept the nation the past two decades
is showing up in bulging federal prisons, which, according to a U.S.
Justice Department report, have cracked the 100,000-inmate barrier.

The federal system may be getting sterner by the year. Not only are federal
judges getting more criminal cases each year, but also they are quicker to
throw crooks in the slammer. In 1990, 60% of convicted defendants went to
prison. By '98, that rate had climbed to 71%.

In 1990, 62% of defendants were freed while awaiting trial (under the
dictum that a person is innocent until proved guilty). By '98, that rate
had dropped to 43%.

In 1990, offenders under federal supervision (that is, in prison or on
probation or parole) numbered 142,000. By '98, they tallied 202,000.

Who says the war on drugs is fizzling? That war and a crackdown on illegal
immigration are the primary engines behind the increased activity in the
federal criminal justice system.

Getting bad people off the streets is good. But among the nations that keep
data, the incarceration rate of the United States rivals only that of
Russia - nothing the land of the free can crow about. Congress should think
of more efficient alternatives to prisons for enforcing the laws and
helping to keep the nation's streets safe.