PAPER CUTS & EX-CONS

Corrections Budget Is In Process

The plan to release some 1,200 inmates early and eliminate thousands of
parolees from state supervision is being scrutinized by those who likely
know ex-cons best: corrections officers.

These unionized officers are lobbying Gov. Gary Locke to make needed budget
cuts to the Department of Corrections in different ways. Their input is
valuable and should be considered.

Locke's current plan is pretty good. The governor proposes agency cuts
including the early release of 1,200 inmates by reducing sentences by 50
percent for minor drug and nonviolent property crimes. The Legislature has
already approved these reductions, but Locke wants them enacted a year
earlier than scheduled. That would save $22 million.

It's a good move. Sentences are in part meant to deter crimes. For
prisoners already serving time, the deterrent factor is null and void.
Besides, treatment, not prison time, is proven to be what low-level drug
offenders benefit from most. Bravo to lessening the number of days
low-level drug abusers are sheltered on the public's dime.

The part of Locke's plan in need of finessing, however, is the elimination
of so much of the state's supervised caseload. Nearly 3,000 low-risk
offenders who have finished their prison sentences, and 22,000 others done
with local jail sentences, would be out from the state's watchful eye. That
is potentially dangerous as well as being a reliable ingredient for
low-level criminals to turn into reoffenders.

Local corrections officer Pat Campbell, one of the spokesmen at a Monday
press conference, is right to point out that low-level offenders are the
ones parole officers can help change most. Taking away this strong source
of accountability from these people is not wise or compassionate.

Much of the proposed agency cut also includes a reduction in jobs. While
that is necessary, already stretched-thin parole officers aren't able to do
enough of their core job function as it is. As Campbell pointed out, in his
13 years at the job he has seen his time spent making unannounced visits to
parolees decrease from 20 hours a week to five. That such a minority of the
job is spent actually watchdogging is maddening.

The culprit is paperwork. "I never thought I'd get carpal tunnel syndrome,"
Campbell said about his job's hazards. He thought he might get shot, but
not paper cut.

Decreasing the clerical work is a must. While liability concerns are
legitimate, there has to be a fix.