OUT OF PRISON AND DEEP IN DEBT

With the nation's incarcerated population at 2.1 million and growing
- -- and corrections costs topping $60 billion a year -- states are
rightly looking for ways to keep people from coming back to prison
once they get out. Programs that help ex-offenders find jobs,
housing, mental health care and drug treatment are part of the
solution. States must also end the Dickensian practice of saddling
ex-offenders with crushing debt that they can never hope to pay off
and that drives many of them right back to prison.

The scope of the ex-offender debt problem is outlined in a new study
commissioned by the Justice Department's Bureau of Justice Assistance
and produced by the Council of State Governments' Justice Center. The
study, "Repaying Debts," describes cases of newly released inmates
who have been greeted with as much as $25,000 in debt the moment they
step outside the prison gate. That's a lot to owe for most people,
but it can be insurmountable for ex-offenders who often have no
assets and whose poor educations and criminal records prevent them
from landing well-paying jobs.

Often, the lion's share of the debt is composed of child support
obligations that continue to mount while the imprisoned parent is
earning no money. The problem does not stop there. The corrections
system buries inmates in fines, fees and surcharges that can amount
to $10,000 or more. According to the Justice Center study, for
example, a person convicted of drunken driving in New York can be
charged a restitution fee of $1,000, a probation fee of $1,800 and 11
other fees and charges that range from $20 to nearly $2,200.

In some jurisdictions, inmates are also billed for the DNA testing
that proves their guilt or innocence, for drug testing and even for
the drug treatment they are supposed to receive as a condition of
parole. These fees are often used to run the courts, the sheriffs'
offices or other parts of the corrections system.

A former inmate living at or even below the poverty level can be
dunned by four or five departments at once -- and can be required to
surrender 100 percent of his or her earnings. People caught in this
impossible predicament are less likely to seek regular employment,
making them even more susceptible to criminal relapse.

The Justice Center report recommends several important reforms.
First, the states should make one agency responsible for collecting
all debts from ex-offenders. That agency can then set payment
priorities. The report also recommends that payments to the state for
fines and fees be capped at 20 percent of income, except when the
former inmate has sufficient assets to pay more. And in cases where
the custodial parent agrees, the report urges states to consider
modifying child support orders while the noncustodial parent is in
prison. Once that parent is released, child support should be paid first.

The states should also develop incentives, including certificates of
good conduct and waivers of fines, for ex-offenders who make
good-faith efforts to make their payments. Where appropriate, they
should be permitted to work off some of the debt through community
service. Beyond that, elected officials who worry about recidivism
need to understand that bleeding ex-offenders financially is a sure
recipe for landing them back in jail.