SCOTT'S PRISON BREAK

It's way too soon to know if Gov. Rick Scott really understands that
he is now a politician who needs legislative allies, or still thinks
he's a CEO who can issue orders to get things done.

So the fact he thinks he can cut 40 percent from the state prison
budget when key legislators think that's a pipe dream -- without
simply releasing thousands of prisoners -- might be one of the
reality checks headed his way.

But Scott might have hit an administrative home run with his
selection of former Indiana prison system chief Edwin Buss to run
Florida's prisons.

Indiana's system is much smaller than Florida's, but Buss radically
cut costs there. In large part he did it by getting legislators to
focus on something that might go against the "lock 'em up" theory
that has pushed Florida's prison population past 100,000 inmates, and
cost Florida taxpayers billions. That is, using prison for criminals
who need to be there, and finding other -- less costly, and less
socially damaging -- remedies for those who shouldn't be there.

Yes, that includes the dreaded "R" word -- rehabilitation. Most
prisoners eventually get out, and return to their communities. They
need to return with something more than just the knowledge of how to
be better criminals.

Buss isn't alone in his thinking. This week Florida legislators heard
from a Texas legislator who told them the key to cutting prison costs
is to stop seeing a jail cell as the only answer to crime --
especially for drug users.

Buss, meanwhile, has criticized the growing inclination of
legislatures to create new crimes and enact mandatory sentencing laws
- -- the latter long a favorite of Florida's "get tough" crowd.

The News Journal Editorial Board has long urged lawmakers to
re-examine the idea of incarceration as a cure-all for crime,
especially when it comes to drugs. We'd prefer to see serious
criminals -- especially violent ones -- kept behind bars longer,
while finding better ways to handle other crimes.

One worry is that some of Buss's ideas have already struggled in
Florida. Former Department of Corrections Secretary Jim McDonough, a
former Army colonel, also had impressive credentials four years ago
when he proposed many of the same ideas, but was rebuffed by the Legislature.

But McDonough's rigid style won him a lot of enemies. By all accounts
Buss wins people over quickly. And today legislators are hungry for
ways to save money. If Buss can offer them significant savings, they
are likely to listen.