PRISON CROWDING IS A DICEY ISSUE

Saving Money Cannot Be Done By Risking The Public's
Safety

New projections show that West Virginia's prison population is
increasing and a new penitentiary will be needed sooner rather than
later. At a cost of $200 million to build.

A summit on public safety earlier this month suggested that a special
commission be assembled for the purpose of keeping more people out of
prison.

That is a worthy goal. Every state program should be careful with its
resources,

But the people assigned to this task force must bear in mind that the
primary goal of the corrections system is to protect the public's
safety.

The state has 6,000 inmates today, a number that already exceeds the
prison capacity. Too many criminals remain in regional jails after
sentencing, and that takes precious space from those jails.

The number of inmates is expected to hit 8,000 in the next four
years.

A big reason for this increase is the use of drugs. Officials say 80
percent of inmates have a drug or alcohol problem, although only 20
percent are charged with a drug-related crime.

Efforts are under way to see if rehabilitation works. The first drug
court was set up in the Northern Panhandle to divert criminals into
rehabilitation instead of the corrections system. Circuit Judge
Martin Gaughan helped set it up.

"As a country we have grown up with punishment is putting a person in
a penitentiary. If we do less, we are not punishing a person," he
said. "It's not so much about punishment; it's about
rehabilitation."

That may be fine for non-violent criminals. West Virginians have
learned the hard way that putting killers on work-release can lead to
more murders.

Still, anything that tamps down costs without risking the lives of
others is worth pursuing. The Manchin administration should study
this idea.