REPORTS: PRISON REAPPRAISAL EMERGING AS STATES EXPERIMENT WITH REFORMS,
ALTERNATIVES

The tough-on-crime laws of the past two decades are getting another look as
crime rates have slowed, with many states easing mandatory sentences and
turning to drug treatment options, two new reports have found.

The reports released Thursday, both by advocates for sentencing
alternatives, suggest that policy-makers are beginning to revisit long
sentences and that the recession may spur more action.

Two Washington-based groups, The Sentencing Project and the Justice Policy
Institute, did the separate studies. They looked at legislative and
administrative changes around the country.

Some authorities think the reports' conclusions are correct.

"We have to make sure that we're not just being tough on crime, we're being
smart on crime," said Alabama Attorney General Bill Pryor, who is seeking
an overhaul of the state's sentencing system.

In the last few years, Connecticut, Indiana, Louisiana, Michigan,
Mississippi and North Dakota eased their laws on mandatory sentencing or
parole, the reports said. Drug treatment as an alternative to prison gained
ground in six states _ Arkansas, Arizona, California, Idaho, Oregon and Texas.

And for several reasons, including a shrinking number of inmates, at least
10 states are looking at closing prisons or cutting back on expansions or
programs.

The new trend contrasts sharply with the get-tough approach of the 1980s
and '90s, when mandatory sentences removed discretion from judges and
parole boards.

Now the crime rate has fallen for nine consecutive years, with the murder
rate at its lowest point in 35 years, according to the latest Justice
Department report in October.

The decline "is starting to finally sink in on people," said Marc Mauer,
assistant director of The Sentencing Project and author of its study.

"It's changed the whole emotional, political discussion about crime," he
said. "It doesn't have the same resonance as a campaign issue that it might
have had 10 years ago, when crime rates were rising."

The cost of get-tough policies is also inspiring some re-examination,
especially now that state budgets are strained by the weak economy, the
reports conclude.

"When you're fat and happy, you don't have to really look at policy choices
with such a discerning eye," said Vincent Schiraldi, president of the
Justice Policy Institute and author of its report.

Their conclusions, however, found little support with Mike Fasano, a
Florida state representative who led the way this week to try to reinstate
the state's "three strikes, you're out" law. (An appeals judge had
dismissed the law on a technicality).

"The reason why crime is down here in this state, it's because of the tough
stance (we've) taken against criminals," Fasano said. "Not only here in the
state of Florida, but throughout the nation. And we should not go backwards."

In Washington state, however, the head of the state prison system said he
sees policy-makers reassessing harsh penalties against drug users, though
not considering steps to go ease up on violent criminals.

"There is a national move to re-examine the efficacy of our past policies,"
Joe Lehman said.

Along with judges, prosecutors and drug treatment advocates, he is pushing
a measure that would shorten time for drug offenses while beefing up
treatment opportunities.

The effectiveness of drug courts "became the awakening of the criminal
justice system," he said. In the courts, judges supervise a drug offender's
treatment and can order punishment for those who fail.

Yet prison time for repeat violent offenders has proven effective in
stopping crime, Lehman said.

Financial worries may force some prison closings. That may not necessarily
translate to treatment or rehabilitation programs, Schiraldi said, but it
seems to be driving more consideration of sentencing alternatives like
electronic monitoring and supervision.

"In the early to mid '90s, no matter what the question was, the answer was
prisons," he said. "That's not true anymore."