'LOCK 'EM UP' MENTALITY DOOMED TO FAILURE

'Lock 'em up and throw away the key" - the notion that we can put criminals
behind bars forever - is a myth that has had no validity since the days of
John Wayne.

Whether you think that we incarcerate too few offenders or that we lock up
too many, especially the low-level thieves and drug possessors, the fact is
that sooner or later virtually everyone who goes into prison comes out. And
unless the community helps released offenders succeed, an alarming portion
of them will return to their old haunts, habits and cronies and claim new
victims.

This year, some 650,000 inmates across the nation will leave correctional
facilities and go back home. In South Carolina, more than 12,000 prisoners
will be released, and, if past trends hold, 30 percent of them will wind up
back in state custody within three years. Given the enormity of this
problem, crime victims and the criminal justice system as a whole are
taking a greater interest in what happens when prisoners return to the
community.

Illiterate, mentally ill, still addicted to alcohol or other drugs, and
lacking job, budgeting, parenting or relationship skills, many inmates are
completely unprepared for the transition back to society. Without support
from friends or family and often barred from living in public housing, huge
numbers of inmates get caught in a relentless cycle of arrest, conviction,
imprisonment and release. They rack up long lists of victims and cost
taxpayers millions.

Reducing this recidivism rate has become a key goal of crime victims and
the criminal justice community. During the past 40 years, the main
strategies for supervising those released from prison and jail have swung
like a pendulum, from social services models to punishment and retribution
models. But a growing body of research shows the most effective strategy
combines the two approaches, offering assistance to released offenders to
help them become better citizens, while holding them accountable to rules
and structure.

The "Second Chance Act of 2004" legislation, recently introduced in
Congress, may be the best example of an emerging policy and political
consensus on prisoner reintegration. The House and Senate bills, with
sponsorship by both Republicans and Democrats, seek to provide grants to
states that develop comprehensive re-entry programs and hold them
accountable for results, including actual reductions in recidivism. The
pending bills give priority to initiatives that have been created in
consultation with crime victims, and they deserve the support of South
Carolina's congressional delegation.

An upcoming report by the Re-Entry Policy Council, a bipartisan group
created by the Council of State Governments, also reflects this consensus.
This detailed guide shows states and communities, step-by-step, how to
develop the sort of successful re-entry program that the federal bills are
designed to support. Victims of crime and victim advocates were among those
who contributed to the report, ensuring that victim concerns, such as the
constitutional and statutory right to be heard at parole hearings, are
among the hundreds of recommendations.

Victims have taken what is, to some, an unusual position on certain parole
issues. When inmates "max out" their sentences, they spend every day
mandated behind bars, but then must be released, often without any
supervision or legal strings attached. On the other hand, prisoners who
re-enter society on probation or parole, with hard time still hanging over
their heads, can be subjected to a host of public safety-oriented
conditions, including monitoring of their whereabouts, drug testing and
mandatory payment of restitution to the victims of their crimes. Given the
choice of opposing parole at that last hearing or allowing the offender to
be released a little earlier under strict community supervision, many
victims are opting for the latter, a realization that a supervised
transition is safer for them and the public.

Few victims want to see offenders serve shorter sentences, especially those
who commit violent crimes and/or crimes of a sexual nature. But since more
than 95 percent of prisoners will eventually be released, South Carolina
can prevent crime and victimization by offering stronger re-entry programs
that help some offenders return to productive, law-abiding lives.

Ms. Hudson is the public policy coordinator of the S.C. Victim Assistance
Network.