THE CARE PACKAGE PICNIC IS OVER FOR NEW JERSEY PRISONERS

TRENTON, N.J. (AP) - There are 540 ``Cheez Balls'' in an 11.75 ounce
Planter's canister.

That's a problem for New Jersey's prison guards.

People on the outside are slicing open cheese puffs, delicately scraping
out the orange crust, filling them with marijuana, gluing them shut and
delivering the can to inmates.

Corrections officers spend hours inspecting each puff and every other piece
of food or item in prisoner care packages.

So starting Monday, family members and loved ones won't be allowed to give
care packages to inmates. No Cheez Balls. No magazines. No hand-knit hats.
No baby powder. Nothing unless inmates order it from an prison-approved
outside vendor.

About 80 percent of the 29,500 convicts in the state's 14 facilities landed
in jail for drug-related offenses, said state Corrections Commissioner Jack
Terhune.

And, he said, 4,000 inmates have been caught using or receiving drugs and
alcohol through care packages in the past two years.

The care package crackdown is the latest phase in Terhune's ``zero
tolerance'' drug policy. Zero tolerance is a package of strict rules aimed
at capping the flow of drugs and their use.

Last month, Terhune ordered all prisoners to surrender their street clothes
for uniform prison khakis. Now officers don't have to spend time looking
for cocaine in Nike sneaker soles or checking sweat shirt strings for
marijuana joints.

In May, Terhune decided any prisoners caught with drugs once would lose
their right to ``contact visits,'' where they can hug or hold hands with
visitors, for one year. Those caught twice would forfeit their contact
visits for the rest of their sentence. So far, 630 inmates lost the
privilege.

Like a gruff sheriff who rides into a town in an Old West movie, Terhune
took the job in April and got tough quick.

Terhune's changes are for the worst, said Edward Martone, executive
director of the American Civil Liberties Union of New Jersey. They create
unruly, petulant prisoners, who become more of a handful for prison guards,
he said.

``It's inconsiderate for (Terhune) to turn the place into a seething
caldron and expect his employees to keep a lid on it,'' Martone said.

Terhune's new rules have agitated prisoners and there's talk of revolt,
said John Cunningham, vice president of Policeman's Benevolent Association
Local 105, which represents 5,300 corrections officers statewide.

``We, as a union, don't have a problem with the privileges being
decreased,'' Cunningham said. ``But he's implementing these policies while
cutting officers.''

Currently, there are 500 officer vacancies statewide, Cunningham said.

``There's been rumors that the inmates are going to do something,''
Cunningham said. ``The difference between life and death could be one
person.''

That's a tired argument, Terhune said.

``No matter what the Department of Corrections does, there is an analogy to
500 vacancies,'' Terhune said. ``I'm not even going to respond to that.''

Anyway, the policy changes will free up officers, who spent eight hours a
day inspecting care packages and street clothes, Terhune said.

Checked-by: Joel W. Johnson