SENTENCING OPTIONS CAN BE USED TO RELIEVE PRISON OVERCROWDING

The General Assembly should support Corrections Department Director
Jon Ozmint in his drive to use alternative sentences to reduce the
state's prison population.

That support will be necessary to keep South Carolina's prisons
running safely and efficiently. State lawmakers have worked to get
tougher on crime. They have passed longer prison sentences and other
rules that keep offenders in prison longer.

As a result, the prison population is growing. It grew by 1,100
inmates last year, by 2,500 in the past three years. But the number of
guards has not kept pace with the growth in the inmate population. And
the state continues to cut the Corrections Department budget.

To avoid dangerous problems in state prisons, the state must either
spend significantly more on the prison system or reduce the number of
inmates.

Ozmint's plan has been written into a bill pre-filed in the
legislature by House Speaker David Wilkins. It would reduce the number
of inmates by letting some nonviolent offenders serve most of their
time under house arrest and electronic monitoring.

They would still serve time in prison for a portion of their
sentences, up to six months. Then they would serve the rest in an
alternative form.

These alternatives would not be used for those who pose a danger to
the rest of the public. They would be used for nonviolent offenders --
those who sign fraudulent checks and the many drug users who fill the
prisons.

Under an alternative like electronic monitoring, sentenced to stay in
their homes except for work, these offenders could continue to support
their families. They could pay for their own punishment, taking that
burden off the taxpayer. They could continue to pay taxes.

Ozmint also wants lawmakers to give his department more flexibility in
giving and taking away credits for good behavior that reduce an
inmate's sentence.

These proposals make sense. They would not only reduce the burden on
the state's prisons, they would allow officials more leeway to create
a punishment that fits an individual's crime and situation.

Prisons should be reserved for violent criminals who must be
incarcerated to protect the rest of society. Other offenders should be
punished in a manner that makes it easier to hold their families
together and for them to eventually rejoin the law-abiding public.

For the social and economic health of the state and the safety of our
prisons, lawmakers should give Ozmint the flexibility for which he
asks.