SENTENCING REFORM COULD BE A BETTER ROUTE THAN PRISON PRIVATIZATION

The Issue: Lawsuit Seeks to Stop Prison Privatization

In preparing a massive change to shave $22 million from its prison
budget, the state is overlooking other reforms that could save plenty
more money.

The state Department of Corrections is readying to complete the
largest prison privatization project in the country. On Jan. 1, if all
goes according to schedule, 29 state prisons in 18 Florida counties,
including South Florida's, will be operated by private companies.

The operative word is scheduled. The process could be halted by a
lawsuit filed by the Florida Police Benevolent Association on behalf
of unionized prison guards.

The Sun Sentinel Editorial Board hasn't been very supportive of state
employee unions. In this case, however, we wouldn't be disappointed if
the lawsuit succeeds.

Privatizing prisons won't be the end of the world. The state has
already privatized seven facilities.

Our concern is that this next, much larger stage of privatization has
eclipsed and shelved potentially more fruitful, cost-effective
changes. One of those is sentencing reform.

Florida has an inmate population of 102,000 men and women locked up in
144 facilities. It costs, on average, $19,469 per year to house an
inmate. The corrections budget is $2.3 billion.

Advocates and lawmakers have argued "" convincingly "" that the
state judiciary has been required to lock up many non-violent drug
users when cheaper alternatives could have been employed. It makes
sense that a pain pill addict caught buying or in possession of 24
grams of pills might fare better "" and at much less expense to
taxpayers "" in drug treatment than with a 15-year prison sentence.

But good luck trying to convince lawmakers jittery about being labeled
as soft on crime.

In fact, just this past session, state Sen. Ellyn Bogdanoff, R-Fort
Lauderdale, and state Rep. Ari Porth, D-Coral Springs, offered
legislation to give judges more leeway in fashioning sentences to fit
an offense. Ed Buss, the head of the Department of Corrections, was on
record saying he supported giving judges more discretion.

Yet, the legislation failed.

And so, now, the state is planning a massive hand-over of prison
management. Sounds to us like a better option would be to allow judges
to do the job they are best suited for: dispensing justice.

Bottom Line: Sentencing reform could be a better route than prison
privatization.