MORE PRISONS WOULD BE BAD FISCAL POLICY

In his Feb. 3 column, " "Reform" Should Keep Criminals in Jail, Not Let
Them Out," David Yepsen writes that sentencing reform is a bad idea.

Iowa's incarceration rate has more than doubled since 1990.

According to Yepsen's logic, Iowans should be half as likely to be
victimized by crime today as in 1990. I don't think so.

Iowa was a safe place in 1990, and it is a safe place in 2002. Minnesota's
incarceration rate is less than half of Iowa's, and it's hardly the crime
capital of the nation.

Yepsen advocates locking more people up to bring us closer to the national
average.

Is this a goal we want to strive for? He thinks penalties for dealing
"white drugs" ought to be increased to make them equal to penalties for
dealing "African-American drugs."

Why not admit the war on drugs has been an abject failure, and enact a
policy that emphasizes treatment instead of incarceration?

Iowa's prisons are at 120 percent capacity. Yepsen believes we should spend
money to build more prisons. Gee, I thought just liberals were tax and spend.

Relatively recently enacted one-size-fits-all mandatory sentences and
mandatory minimums, as well as the war on drugs, have all contributed to
Iowa's prison-population explosion.

More prisons would be bad fiscal policy. Limited resources would be better
spent on programs to help inmates and ex-convicts avoid reoffending.

Rehabilitation is not a dirty word. Iowa needs sensible sentencing and
parole policies, not more prisons.

James B. Anfinson

Des Moines