JUDGE DENIES SUIT TO BLOCK JAIL RELEASE

More Felons Set Free Early

FRANKFORT - Attorney General Ben Chandler sued Gov. Paul Patton yesterday
in a failed effort to block the early release of 328 more prisoners, part
of Patton's response to the state budget crunch.

Franklin Circuit Judge William Graham denied Chandler's request to stop the
release of Class D felons, already under way during the 9 a.m. hearing. But
Graham agreed to consider arguments against future releases after legal
briefs are filed next month.

Although the releases outrage many police, prosecutors and crime-victim
groups, some criminal-justice experts suggest the releases look more
threatening than they are, as most of the felons would have finished their
sentences later this year, anyway.

But in his lawsuit, Chandler accuses Patton of "unconstitutionally abusing
his executive power by seeking to 'balance the budget' on the back of the
safety of the people." Chandler, a Democratic candidate for governor, was
echoed yesterday by other gubernatorial hopefuls from both parties.

Managing The Money

Patton freed 567 prisoners last month by commuting their sentences. One of
them, a convicted thief originally scheduled for release in April, was
arrested weeks later and charged with robbing two Western Kentucky banks.

Rather than send criminals home early, Chandler said, Patton could stop
paying $100 an hour or more to private lawyers through lucrative state
contracts. The attorney general's staff provides the same work for $50 an
hour, he said.

"We spend $350 million a year on personal-service contracts," Chandler said
after the hearing.

"If this administration handled its finances a little better, it could have
found the $1 million it claims it's saving from opening the prison gates,"
Chandler said. "This is absolutely the last area the state needs to be
cutting. This is minimal savings at a very significant risk to the public."

In response, Patton issued a statement agreeing that early releases for
felons are "certainly undesirable." But Kentucky faces an unprecedented
$509 million revenue shortfall over the next three years, and the state
Correction Department's $285 million budget must be cut further, he said.

"As governor, I have to make the hard choices. I am convinced my actions
are proper and authorized under Kentucky's constitution," Patton said.
"Political leaders of Kentucky have to realize that we are faced with very
difficult decisions on the budget and have no authority to generate
additional money."

The majority of Class D felons released yesterday were state prisoners held
in local jails, each costing the state $28.76 a day.

Assessing The Risks

Under Patton's orders, candidates for early release cannot be convicted of
violent or sex-related felonies. Most were drug dealers or users, thieves
or burglars; on average, they were scheduled to finish their prison
sentences this summer.

Patton's move is politically unpopular, but realistically, the public is at
no greater risk if the felons are released today instead of six months from
now, a criminologist said.

James Austin, director of the Institute on Crime, Justice and Corrections
at George Washington University, helped the Kentucky Division of Probation
& Parole develop guidelines to determine how likely released prisoners are
to commit new crimes.

A study of Class D felons released in Kentucky in 1998 showed that 32
percent returned to the Department of Corrections within three years, with
no significant difference based on the lengths of their original sentences,
Austin said. More than half of the felons served all of their time, he said.

"Your crime rate is not going to budge one bit because of this policy. You
can change the length of incarceration either way, make it shorter or
longer, and it does not affect the rate of recidivism," Austin said. "It
does not affect public safety in the aggregate."

"That can be hard to explain to the person who is robbed or hurt by someone
released today," he conceded.

Election-Year Ploy?

Chandler's opposition to early releases was joined by other gubernatorial
candidates, including Kentucky House Speaker Jody Richards, a rival
Democrat, and U.S. Rep. Ernie Fletcher and state Rep. Steve Nunn, both
Republicans. There are better places to cut the state budget, they agreed.

"There is money that can be saved even in the Corrections budget without
releasing prisoners ... (inmate) health care is one such area, and inmate
transportation to hearings and medical visits," Nunn said.

There is no love lost between Chandler and Patton, who are both Democrats.
Chandler is prosecuting Patton's close friend and chief of staff, Andrew
"Skipper" Martin, for alleged campaign-finance violations during Patton's
1995 gubernatorial campaign.

However, Chandler said he isn't trying to score political points off Patton
in an election year. Chandler said he wrote Patton a letter last week
privately asking him to reconsider the early releases for the sake of
public safety.

Given that Patton released more prisoners yesterday, Chandler added dryly,
"I would assume my request was denied."