NEW JAIL BARELY EASES CRUNCH

Shirley facility to fill up quickly

Three years since 299 inmates were shipped to Texas to ease pressure on a
prison system crowded to a near-bursting point, the state today is set to
unveil the crown jewel of its correctional system, a state-of-the-art
1,000-bed prison in Shirley.

But almost as soon as the ribbon is cut, that facility, the state's second
maximum-security prison after MCI-Cedar Junction in Walpole, will be filled
to capacity.

And Department of Correction officials acknowledged yesterday that
prisoners housed at the Dallas County Jail will not be returning to
Massachusetts any time soon, raising frustrations of advocates who have
long complained that the state's system is inadequate to handle the growing
numbers of inmates. The green light for building the prison came in 1996 as
Governor William F. Weld declared that ``new cells are the wedge that will
stop'' so-called revolving-door justice - the court-mandated release of
prisoners due to lack of space. At the time, Massachusetts prisons were
operating at 153 percent capacity. Today, they're at 142 percent.

Now, officials concede, any relief will be short-lived. Anthony Carnevale,
a DOC spokesman, said all 1,000 cells will have inmates in the next few weeks.

Carnevale said medium-security prisons are bulging with prisoners who
belong in maximum security. They will be the first to arrive in the new
prison. But because there are more than 1,000 inmates eligible for
maximum-security prisons, he said, the state's contract with Texas to hold
Massachusetts inmates will remain in place.

Carnevale said that the Shirley facility, named the Souza-Baranowski
Correctional Center in honor of two correctional officers slain in the line
of duty, is the last of the projects financed by the prison bond bill,
which has added about 3,000 cells statewide.

Thomas Hammond, director of the House Post-Audit and Oversight Bureau,
which in 1994 released a report that found Weld's prison construction plans
``shortsighted,'' said yesterday that the study's findings are confirmed by
the fact that the system remains overcrowded.

That report, which said the eventual cost of the then-$551 million proposed
facility in Shirley would approach $1 billion after all the bonds are paid
back, called for alternative sentencing for nonviolent and drug offenders,
and rehabilitation of existing facilities to ease the crunch. ``Hundreds of
millions of dollars of new construction in isolation simply cannot solve
the overcrowding crisis,'' the report stated. ``Long-term solutions that
reduce the numbers of inmates coming into the system must be developed.''
The report cited studies showing that mandatory drug sentencing is
responsible for the explosion in the prison population nationwide. At least
20 percent of the Massachusetts prison population is incarcerated for
drug-related offenses.

Not only does a maximum-security prison cost the most money to run, critics
say, but it also does less to relieve overcrowding. Lower-security prisons
house more inmates at lower costs. And advocates for prisoners have long
maintained that many inmates currently in maximum security could safely be
housed in lower-security beds.

Barry Barkow, an attorney with Massachusetts Correctional Legal Services,
said, ``The problem in the system isn't simply overcrowding but that
prisoners aren't placed in a setting that is the most socially valuable, so
we have overcrowding.'' The DOC, however, restricts movement of certain
types of prisoners, including sex offenders and suspected gang members,
until they complete rigorous programs. Others may be not be moved to lower
security for non-safety reasons, such as the notoriety of their crime.
Carnevale said the new prison will offer educational and vocational
programs that have been halted at the state prison in Walpole.

Checked-by: Mike Gogulski