ALTERNATIVES TO CELLS

Regarding your March 31 editorial "Costly 'slammers'": I second that
remark! We are in desperate need of alternatives to incarceration in North
Carolina.

As long as the legislature continues to cut the Department of Correction
budget every year, funding for such programs will obviously continue to be
cut as well.

The public does need to be protected from violent criminals and therefore
we continue to need prisons, but there are fewer and fewer alternatives for
those criminals who are nonviolent or who just need an extra push to get on
the right track. North Carolina is in desperate need of programs for the
young and for females. People should tell their legislators that the state
needs more alternative punishment programs!

Cathy Eagles

Raleigh

The writer is one of the 10 chief probation/parole officers in Wake County.