BETTER POLICIES, NOT BIGGER PRISONS

Massachusetts jails are bursting at the seams, county sheriffs say,
and millions of dollars are needed to repair and expand them to house
the thousands of men and women behind bars. Last Sunday, the Daily
News reported that jails serving Middlesex, Worcester and Norfolk
County are holding more than twice as many prisoners as they were
built to handle.

"It's a life or death issue," according to Worcester County Sheriff Guy Glodis.

True enough, and no doubt there are immediate needs that must be
addressed to ensure adequate conditions. The state's prisons are
overcrowded as well. But the problems go beyond a lack of cells and bunks.

Our prisons are crowded, in part, because they are the place where
thousands of the untreated mentally ill end up. They can't cope and
they can't get help, but they can get arrested.

Prisons and jails are also crowded because we have criminalized
addiction. A state task force found that 81 percent have substance
abuse disorder. The crimes committed by thousands of inmates stem
from drug abuse - and drug prohibition. It costs $45,000 a year to
keep a drug addict in a state prison, yet few of them get the
treatment they'll need to go straight after release.

Prison overcrowding is also the direct result of misguided policies.
Mandatory minimum sentences and "truth in sentencing" laws enacted in
the 1990s by legislators determined to appear tough on crime have
backfired. Prisoners convicted under those laws serve their full
sentences and are released without post-release supervision, and
without the remainder of a sentence hanging over them should they get
in trouble again. Without jobs, skills or housing, they find their
way back to the old neighborhood, the old gang and the old bad habits.

Urban police chiefs can anticipate spikes in gang violence, Gov.
Deval Patrick said during a visit to Framingham this week, "because
they know when the bad guys are getting out."

Patrick, House Speaker Sal DiMasi and Senate President Therese Murray
said this week they have agreed it's time to roll back mandatory
minimum sentences and concentrate on post-release supervision and
prisoner re-entry programs. They have an ally in Attorney General
Martha Coakley.

"The biggest problem is that our approach to public safety has been
to warehouse people," Patrick said. The answer is new policies, not
bigger warehouses.