PRISON REFORM WOULD HELP BUDGET SHORTFALL

Reforming the way Oklahoma handles criminals would go a long way toward
solving the state's fiscal problems. For example: If Oklahoma reduced its
incarceration rate to the national average, about $138 million could be
saved annually. What's the shortage in schools? About $158 million.

In other words, if the state spent less on boarding miscreants, it could
spend more on education and the consensus is that spending more on
education would mean fewer criminals.

One might argue that the expenditures on imprisonment are worth it because
the policies keep crime down.

But that's not the case.

The study showed that Oklahoma is sending twice as many people to prison as
in 1983 without affecting the crime rate. The state's corrections policies
obviously are not working.

It's time the whole corrections approach is changed. The good news is that
millions of dollars can be saved at the same time thousands of Oklahomans
are given a much better chance of becoming productive citizens.