THOMPSON'S GOOD TURN ON PRISON POLICY

On criminal justice issues, The Capital Times does not often turn to our
esteemed governor for wise counsel.

But Tommy Thompson sounded downright visionary in his State of the State
address last week, when he endorsed what can only be described as a liberal
approach to criminal justice reform. In quick order Wednesday night,
Thompson put himself on record as supporting alternative treatment programs
for felony drug offenders, new literacy programs in the jails, the hiring of
additional parole and probation agents, and the return to Wisconsin of women
incarcerated out of state.

This is a definite U-turn for a governor who once prided himself on building
a new prison annually.

During 13 years as Wisconsin's chief executive, Thompson has presided over
an unprecedented expansion of the state's prison system. At a time when
crime rates are in the midst of a long decline - due, in large part, to the
health of the economy - Wisconsin continues to pour precious resources into
the construction of penitentiaries.

For more than a decade, the governor and his legislative allies approached
criminal justice debates with an eye not to protect society or to reform
criminals but to enrich prison contractors - who also happen to be major
campaign contributors. For a time, the prison-building boom was popular, as
the virulent anti-crime rhetoric of the early 1990s created a false sense
that there was a need for a bricks-and-mortar response to societal ills.

But in recent years, crime has sunk in the rankings of public concerns. And
a great many Wisconsinites have awakened to the disturbing reality that
their state has more people - 20,000 plus - in jail than at any time in
history, sends more prisoners out of state than ever before and spends
almost as much money on jails as it does to higher education.

All of a sudden, Wisconsinites are starting to ask how their state - once a
leader in sensible criminal justice policy came to lead the nation in its
embrace of the lock-'em-up-and-throw-away-the-key approach.

So pervasive has the questioning of the prison building become that wise
politicians have begun to shift course on the issue. And Wisconsin has no
better politician than Tommy Thompson.

So it probably should come as no surprise that the governor has decided to
surf the wave of shifting sentiment on criminal justice issues. Thompson
understands that people want more sensible approaches, and he recognizes
that this means less of a lock-'em-up mentality and more of an emphasis on
rehabilitation and alternatives to incarceration.

Still, it was quite remarkable to hear the governor say of inmates: "We need
to turn these bad guys back into good guys because we need them to help fill
the jobs to support their families and pay back society."

That is an attitude that has been largely missing from the criminal justice
debate in Wisconsin in recent years. While State Sens. Fred Risser,
D-Madison, and Gary George, D-Milwaukee, have fought for common sense
approaches, theirs has been a lonely battle.

Now that battle has been joined by the most unexpected of warriors.

Let's hope that legislators, who this year will devote much of their time to
writing a new state criminal code, will heed the call that Thompson has
issued and steer their policies in the sounder - and far more economically
responsible - direction of rehabilitation, education and sentencing
alternatives.

Wisconsin needs a new approach to criminal justice policy-making. And,
unexpected as his leadership may be, Tommy Thompson's willingness to lead
the state in that new direction is a very welcome development.