GET OUT OF JAIL FREE

THE ISSUE

Alabama is speeding up the release of thousands of "nonviolent" offenders
to save money and reduce the prison population.

WE SUGGEST

Releasing prisoners back into society would only cost more in the long run;
the state needs to find other ways to reduce overcrowding. Alabama is
caught between a rock and a hard place when it comes to its prison population

On the one hand, the state is housing more than 28,000 prisoners in
facilities built to hold less than half that number.

The federal government has been breathing down the state's neck to improve
this situation or face federal-court intervention, and the state is in its
worst financial bind in decades - which means new prisons aren't an option.

This situation is what prompted Gov. Bob Riley to recommend that the
Legislature do what was once unthinkable: let prisoners go.

The governor, whose failed $1.2 billion tax package would have addressed
the overcrowding problem, asked the Legislature to create a second Board of
Pardons and Paroles to expedite the release of between 5,000 and 6,000
non-violent and drug offenders.

Last week, that board started hearing between 40 and 50 cases a day. The
second board is expected to streamline the process and eliminate the
14-month backlog of cases waiting to be heard.

The Legislature also agreed to beef up the number of parole board employees
from about 400 to about 500 to help manage the increased workload.

The problem with all of this is that when we, as a society, become more
concerned with the amount of money it takes to house a prisoner than we are
with that prisoner's readiness for public life, we open the door to some
serious consequences.

The rate of recidivism is high, even in non-violent offenders, and it's
likely that some of those who are released will end up in trouble again.

When this happens, the state has to pay for the legal process to start all
over again.

Taxpayers won't be the only ones paying the bill if the rate of property
crimes increases as people convicted in these cases in the past are released.

The governor and the Legislature need to go back to the drawing board on
this issue in the spring and look for a better solution. While this effort
may save money in the short run, it has the potential to cost us dearly
down the road.

In the meantime, we urge both parole boards to use the extra resources to
thoroughly screen all of those up for parole and to keep the standards for
their release high.