REPEAT PROBLEMS

THE ISSUE Alabama's repeat offender law is causing expensive problems
in the overcrowded prison system.

WE SUGGEST The law should be fine tuned to give judges more
discretion when sentencing repeat offenders.

Alabama has a reputation for being tough on crime, so tough, in fact,
that the state's already over-crowded prisons are bursting at the seams.

The problem isn't that Alabama is a high-crime state. The problem is
multi-faceted, but one of the main culprits in prison overcrowding is
an inflexible repeat offender law.

The law does not take into consideration length of time between
convictions and the severity of previous crimes.

Known as the "three-strikes-and-you're-out" law in Alabama, it leaves
judges virtually no discretion for sentencing a person convicted of a
third felony.

As a result, Alabama's prisons are coping with an aging inmate
population that is costing taxpayers more money and placing the state
in jeopardy of a federal court takeover.

There are almost 8,600 inmates serving time under the habitual
offender act, and half of them were given tougher sentences after
their third convictions were for property or drug crimes. And many of
them, because of their age, require more medical attention than
younger inmates.

Habitual offenders receive longer sentences, which in some cases is
appropriate because of the violent nature of their crimes. Some are
sentenced to life in prison.

The law is not flexible; it does not allow judges to weigh the nature
of the offenses and other factors when passing sentence. As a result,
some nonviolent offenders are taking up prison space that would be
better used for violent offenders and major drug offenders.

Being tough on crime is good, but when the toughness is not leavened
with common sense and practicality, it is simply hard-headed-demagoguery.

Alabama has a prison population of 27,000 inmates. That's twice the
number the system was designed to house.

Adding to the problem is the lack of state money to adequately staff
and operate prisons. It's a recipe for disaster.

A good place to begin correcting the problems is with a rewritten
habitual offender law. Judges should have the discretion to modify
sentences based on the severity of offenses, which would ease the
pressures on the already strained correctional system.