PRISON REFORM EFFORTS RAMPING UP

Criminal justice reform has long been a cause championed by civil
libertarians. Now that business leaders, taxpayer watchdogs and
law-enforcement veterans in Florida have joined in, Gov. Charlie Crist
and legislators have no good excuse for ignoring this imperative.

The Coalition for Smart Justice addressed an open letter last week to
Crist and legislators, calling for comprehensive reform in the state
prison system and corrections policies. The coalition is made up of
business, academic, religious, government, law-enforcement and social
service leaders.

As the coalition argues, Florida spends too much to put nonviolent
offenders in prison. By diverting them to cheaper and better
alternatives, the state could free more dollars to invest in programs
to rehabilitate violent offenders behind bars before their release.

Florida does a bang-up job of putting away convicted criminals. Its
prison population of almost 101,000 has jumped nearly a quarter in the
past five years.

With the average cost of keeping an inmate in prison more than $20,000
a year, the bill for running the system tops $2 billion annually.

Many people would argue public safety is worth almost any price, but
Florida's prison system doesn't do a very good job of protecting
citizens once inmates get out. Of those released, one third commit
crimes again within three years.

Currently, about half the inmates packing Florida's prisons were
convicted for nonviolent crimes. Steering them - especially the ones
whose crimes stem from drug addiction or mental-health problems - to
less expensive but more effective alternatives would diminish the need
to build new prisons at $100 million a pop.

State legislators got a good start this year when they directed
circuit judges to avoid sending nonviolent criminals to prison and
bolstered the state's drug courts.

Over time, that also would bring down the prison population.

For years, Florida legislators have been more interested in being
tough than smart on crime. But Florida has long since run out of money
to pump into a prison system that burdens taxpayers, yet falls short
on protecting public safety.