PRISON REFORM OPPORTUNITY

Budget Shortfalls Provide Impetus For Needed Change

Prisons are one of many areas of state government that Gov. Rick Scott
has targeted for cuts in his budget proposal, which he is expected to
release Monday.

Scott has vowed to carve $1 billion from the corrections budget over
the next seven years. That would be almost a 42 percent reduction from
the current funding level of $2.4 billion.

Like many of the spending cuts that Scott has proposed over the last
month, his plans for prisons are short on details.

Consequently, Floridians should regard Scott's corrections budget with
some trepidation -- but also some hope.

Cutting state spending on prisons just for the sake of cutting could
make Florida's troubled corrections system even worse -- and
potentially threaten public safety.

Yet, if Scott's intent is to stop or reduce spending on parts of the
system that are not working, and to shift resources to alternative
programs that have been successful elsewhere, the result could be a
positive change -- for prisons and the public.

One thing is certain: Florida's prison system has plenty of room for
improvement.

Inmate Increases

Florida has the third-largest state prison population in the country
- -- almost 104,000 inmates, according to the Pew Center on the States.
The system has grown by 17,300 inmates in the last five years, even
though Florida's crime rate has been relatively stable and even fallen.

Proponents of Florida's tough sentencing practices see the lower crime
rate as justification for those policies, but a closer look at the
numbers raises questions.

While Florida's crime rate in 2009 -- 4,397 crimes per 100,000 people
- -- was its lowest since 1971, it was almost double that of New York
State (2,320 per 100,000). And New York, with a larger overall
population than Florida's, has about half as many people in prison
(58,648 in 2009). In fact, among the four largest states, only
Florida's prison population rose from 2008 to 2009, the Pew Center
found. The inmate counts in California, Texas and New York all fell --
as did the number of prisoners nationwide.

The reasons for Florida's persistently high prison population are tied
to its long record of "tough on crime" policies, as the
Herald-Tribune's Lloyd Dunkelberger noted in a Jan. 30 article.

Those policies include the elimination of parole, the requirement that
prisoners serve 85 percent of their sentences, "10-20-life" sentences
for crimes involving guns, a "three strikes" law for repeat felons,
and judges' authority to send any felon to prison, even for minor crimes.

Such policies could be justified if they proved to reduce crime and
turn former prisoners into productive, law-abiding citizens. But, as
shown above, the link to lower crime rates is tenuous and, as
Dunkelberger pointed out, former prisoners "represent a real threat to
their communities." For instance:

Most have few job skills, many have unresolved addictions and more
than half read below a sixth-grade level. Yet Florida spends only 1
percent of its prison budget on substance-abuse, education and
vocational programs.

Many have mental disorders. Nearly one in five are treated for mental
illnesses, but prison officials say an unknown number may need help
but don't receive it.

With no parole system, few ex-inmates have supervision after their
release.

One of every three ex-prisoners is likely to return to prison within
three years for a probation violation or commission of a new crime,
according to state officials.

Other states have experienced crime and prison problems similar to
Florida's but have approached them differently, employing, for
example, more innovative sentencing as well as education programs and
drug-and alcohol-addiction treatment.

As on example, the Pew Center on the States reported in "Prison Count
2010":

"In January 2007, Texas faced a projected prison population increase
of up to 17,000 inmates in just five years. Rather than spend nearly
$2 billion on new prison construction and operations ... policymakers
reinvested a fraction of this amount -- $241 million -- in a network
of residential and community-based treatment and diversion programs.

"This strategy has greatly expanded sentencing options for new
offenses and sanctioning options for probation violators. ...

"As a result, this strong law-and-order state not only prevented the
large projected population increase but reduced its prison population
over the three years since the reforms were passed."

Diversion Works

Florida already uses some treatment and diversion programs, such as
drug courts and mental health courts, but obviously more needs to be
done.

Some members of the Florida Legislature have signaled a willingness to
consider alternatives to current policies. Greg Evers, chairman of the
state Senate's Criminal Justice Committee, has said he's willing to
revisit the 85 percent requirement and to consider reviving parole,
which was ended in 1983.

Unfortunately, Scott indicates that he leans toward more use of
private corrections companies -- a practice with a mixed record in
Florida, and little indication that it would save money or alter
current results.

The opportunity for effective prison reform -- reform that might not
only reduce costs but change inmates' lives and better protect our
communities -- is at hand. We hope that Scott makes the most of it.