RELEASING 'LOW-RISK' INMATES IRRESPONSIBLE

The Washington State Department of Corrections released approximately 280
inmates last week because the state legislature approved Senate Bill 5990
in April. The Senate passed the bill in an attempt to close the state's
$2.65 billion budget deficit.

This decision, however, has damaging consequences and will not solve the
budget problem.

The bill allows eligible, low-risk prisoners, such as sex or drug offenders
who show good behavior or performance, to be released up to 50 percent
earlier than originally sentenced. It also reduces, and in some cases,
eliminates supervision of released inmates.

Releasing convicts into the community before completing their full
sentences will cause the crime rate to skyrocket. According to statistics
provided by the state's Department of Corrections, approximately 35 percent
of current inmates have previous prison experiences. Although the prisoners
being released are considered low risk, the chances that they will again
commit crimes are high.

Prisoners should not be rewarded with early release when they have shown
good behavior in a correctional facility. This ingrains in inmates the idea
that they can weasel out of any dilemma with only minor consequences.
Prisoners will not receive the discipline that is needed before being
released back into the community, and larger, more harmful crimes could
occur as a result.

By 2005, an estimated 550 prisoners will be released into the community.
This threatens citizens' sense of security. Citizens expect and deserve to
feel safe within their own communities. The trust of citizens will rapidly
disappear as more inmates receive early releases and flow into homes next
door and down the street.

Children especially will suffer. Not only are children easy targets for sex
offenders being released, they also present a strong market for drug
traffickers. According to the Washington State Department of Corrections,
more than 80 percent of the inmates released into Whatcom County last week
are drug offenders. Past connections with drug dealers and users will
enable former convicts to make drugs readily available for curious adolescents.

The Senate has a duty to take care of its people, and several legislators
argue that the bill is a positive change. It costs approximately $24,000
per year to provide housing, food and health care to each prisoner. By
releasing low-risk criminals and cutting costs for supervision, the state
is expected to save nearly $40 million - a small step toward closing the
budget deficit. It does not seem the lawmakers considered the additional
costs that would occur by passing this bill.

In the end, however, the state will end up spending just as much - if not
more - money. The state will have to pay for the legal costs of arresting
these released prisoners several more times. When many of them are
inevitably sent back to jail, the state will be forced to once again pay
for their housing costs.

Finding a solution to closing the state's budget deficit will not be easy.
If lawmakers insist on saving money on prisoners, then they must go about
it in an entirely different way.

If the state is willing to put so many drug offenders back on the street,
it should not have put so many behind bars. It would be more worthwhile if
drug offenders were sent to treatment centers at the time of their arrest.
Police and court costs are less than $2,400 for the average treated client.
Also, the likelihood of felony arrests decreases after the completion of a
treatment program by 33 percent, according to a report by the Department of
Social and Health Services.

With the new bill, the criminal justice system will be focused on reducing
the number of excess prisoners than with the well-being of society as a
whole. The Senate needs to realize that the benefits of giving criminals
treatment and counseling will be much higher than needlessly releasing them
without the supervision they obviously still need.