IT'S NOT TOO LATE TO FIX TRUTH IN SENTENCING

The blame game has started for the mess that is called truth in
sentencing. The Republican governor and Assembly leaders point fingers
at the Democrats in the Senate. The truth is, however, that the full
Legislature and Gov. Tommy Thompson have acted irresponsibly and,
thus, share the blame.

Lawmakers and the governor wholly manufactured an impending Y2K crisis
- - the start of truth in sentencing on Jan. 1 without an accompanying
strategy to prevent this new punishment scheme from boomeranging. As
things stand, truth in sentencing could accelerate crowding in prisons
and, to make room for new arrivals, lead to the premature release of
dangerous criminals - just the opposite of what the law is supposed to
do.

This farce looms because Madison politicians prefer sounding tough
over fashioning criminal justice policies that actually work. What fun
it is to pass an edict declaring that convicted defendants shall
henceforth serve their full prison terms. What good copy such a law
makes in the newsletter to constituents.

Trouble is, such an edict is hollow if prisons lack room to hold
convicts their full terms. The passage of truth in sentencing gave the
Legislature the duty to tackle the crowding problem - a duty it has
for the most part shirked. What's more, the law itself will likely
accelerate crowding, as the sentences judges hand down will probably
exceed what convicts had served.

Yes, in passing truth in sentencing, the Legislature did set up a
criminal penalties study committee, but gave it too narrow a scope of
duties and too short a timetable in which to act. And, simultaneously,
lawmakers insanely increased prison terms for felonies by half,
exacerbating the crowding problem.

Sure, to ease the crowding threat, the committee has recommended a
revision of the criminal code. The Assembly passed this revision, and
the Senate balked, prompting much huffing and puffing from
Republicans. The truth is, though, this half-step wouldn't have headed
off the problem. Sentences would still likely be longer than the terms
prisoners now actually serve, and so prison crowding would intensify.

The Legislature should have delayed the implementation of truth in
sentencing until it came up with a comprehensive plan to prevent the
new law from blowing up in the state's face. In fact, it's not too
late to enact such a delay. But doing so would require a special
session of the Legislature.

Thompson should call such a session.