RESERVE PRISON CELLS FOR VIOLENT OFFENDERS

To the Editor:

A judge recently sentenced Sam Waksal, CEO of ImClone, to 87 months in
prison and ordered him to pay $3 million in fines for insider trading. The
fines, I agree with: The prison sentence, I don't.

Prisons should be used to isolate violent criminals from the rest of
society. Yet some violent criminals are sentenced to less hard time than
Sam Waksal. Also, our prisons hold too many nonviolent offenders, including
recreational drug users and white-collar criminals.

We would be better off sentencing nonviolent criminals to community
service. Sam Waksal, an astute businessman, could be sentenced to 87 months
helping and teaching proprietors of struggling businesses, perhaps in our
minority communities, to improve sales, services, and efficiency. Fewer
inmates means relief for our overburdened prison systems at a savings of
taxpayer dollars. Those who break parole could find themselves back in
prison with even longer sentences.

With today's technology, nonviolent criminals could live at home and pay
their own upkeep. The savings could be used to fund more parole officers to
monitor those sentenced to community service. This arrangement would
benefit the entire community: the prison system, taxpayers, nonviolent
criminals, and struggling businesses and their customers.

Richard Romfh

Nashville