JUST LEAVE THE GATE OPEN

Some lawmakers - none were quoted or identified in an Associated Press
story - are considering shortening mandatory sentences as a response to our
overflowing state prisons.

We have another idea: Why doesn't a prison guard just leave the front gate
slightly ajar once the lights are turned out? That should free up some beds
- - and provide about the same amount of security for the population as
shorter sentences, which is to say a lot less.

The state says that our growing population, combined with tougher mandatory
sentences that were implemented in the early 1990s, are reasons for the
prison population explosion.

The lawmakers have asked a state commission to come up with sentencing
alternatives to reduce the need for additional beds. They include lighter
sentences for nonviolent habitual felons convicted of property crimes and
lesser drug offenses, and reducing the weight given to prior convictions
during sentencing.

The shorter-sentences option is quick and easy, but offers no other
advantage that we can see. It would send exactly the wrong message to
criminals.

The first thing the state should do is to continue to explore alternative
sentences for criminals convicted of using drugs. If drug use is a disease,
then why do these people end up in prison instead of rehabilitation
centers? Note, we are talking about drug users, not drug dealers.

Once this option is full exploited, then lawmakers might have a better
handle on exactly how many prison beds are needed. The state now projects
that 7,000 new beds will be needed by 2010. The problem is the cost of
seven new 1,000-bed prisons is fixed at $525 million - a lot of money for a
state that is faced each year with a shortfall of hundreds of millions of
dollars.

Some of this money could be recouped by increasing the number of inmates
per Department of Correction employee. It is now 1.7 inmates, compared with
a national average of 2.7.

We simply see no advantage to sending the criminals home early. We believe
North Carolina residents would rather give their money to the state to
build prisons than have their money stolen by someone with a gun.