STATES RETHINK PENALTIES AS CRIME RATE DECLINES

Mandatory Sentencing, Drug Treatment Revisited

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 today, 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 nationwide.

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 recent 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 1990s, 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.