There is little that is new in the “Cost of Incarcerating Adult Felons” written by the Kentucky General Assembly’s staff for the Program Review and Investigations Committee. The only question is whether legislators will use this report to continue to bemoan the soaring costs of the state’s prisons while actually doing little or nothing at attack the problem.
Or will this latest of many reports on prison costs lead to a complete review of Kentucky’s criminal code that will restore more reason and fairness and actually reduce the state’s prison population without endangering public safety.
While many legislators recognize the need to reduce the state’s prison population, they fear that any changes in the status quo will paint them in the public’s eye as being soft on crime.
The new study found that the average number of state inmates increased 42 percent from fiscal year 2000 to FY 2009 and the annual cost of incarcerating them rose 53 percent during that period.
Rep. Ken Upchurch, R-Monticello, called those number “fairly astonishing” and added that if the trend continues at its current rate, “We’re looking at close to a billion dollars to house inmates in 10 years and that’s pretty spooky.”
Spooky and unaffordable.
So what can be done? The new report is hardly the first to suggest that changes in the state’s persistent felony offender (PFO) law has been a major factor in the rising prison population.
Robert Lawson, a University of Kentucky law professor, is among many who have called on lawmakers to revise the persistent felony offender laws. Originally adopted in the mid-1970s the PFO laws were initially designed for offenders who had been imprisoned and then committed subsequent felonies after their release. At first, judges or juries had to formally convict a repeat offender as a PFO, but the law has since been changed to make it automatic that those convicted repeatedly of felonies be declared PFOs and received a minimum sentence of 10 years.
The number of offenses that can trigger the PFO law have been increased. Many PFOs are addicts who have been convicted a repeat drug-related offenses. Some contend they need treatment instead of long sentences.
Get-tough-on-crime prosecutors like Fayette Commonwealth’s Attorney Ray Larson and Warren Commonwealth’s Attorney Chris Cohron contend PFO laws make the public safer by locking up dangerous criminals. They have vigorously opposed efforts to reduce the state’s prison population while offering few suggestions on how to pay for their incarceration.
This issue is running the risk of being talked to death. It is past time for legislators to actually do something to solve what all agree is both a serious funding problem and a criminal justice problem.
Editorials
Past time to act — 11/15/09
General Assembly needs to get serious about the prison issue
- Editorials
-
-
Focus on music
There will be no new trophies for winning marching band competitions for the Boyd County High School band. Nor will band members be spending as many summer days in the hot sun in band camp and autumn Saturdays taking long bus drives to compete in band festivals in distant communities.
-
Memorial Day
Unlike our other wars, the American people were never asked to sacrifice for the war in Iraq and the one still ongoing in Afghanistan. They have been wars fought by an all-voluntary military and by the “weekend soldiers” in the National Guard and in the Army, Navy and Air Force Reserve
-
Still more cuts
If you believe the cuts mandated by the two-year state budget that will take effect July 1 will have little impact on services, consider this.
-
Earmarks again?
Immediately, following the midterm elections of 2010 which saw Republicans regain control of the House of Representatives and capture seats in the U.S. Senate, Republican leaders in Congress announced they had heard the voice of the voters and vowed to cease using “earmarks,” the name given to appropriations slipped into bills by influential legislators without a vote.
-
Best in the nation
It may surprise many readers that Newsweek’s “best high school in America” is located right here in Kentucky and is open to selected students throughout the state, but then the Carol Martin Gatton Academy of Mathematics and Science at Western Kentucky University in Bowling Green is hardly your typical high school. In fact, it would be impossible for even the best public high schools to emulate the amazing success of students at the Gatton Academy.
-
After the vote
We offer today a few reflections on the messages voters sent in Tuesday’s primary election in Kentucky.
-
A mild winter
As we approach the Memorial Day weekend, long hailed as the unofficial start of the summer vacation season, we pause to reflect upon the winter that wasn’t.
-
Devices banned
Emergency breathing devices that tests have proven unreliable are being phased out under a directive issued by the federal Mine Safety and Health Administration. However, MSHA has given mine operators more than 18 months to remove all the air packs from underground mines.
-
A free weekend
In an effort to promote increased recreational use of the two lakes in the Daniel Boone National Forest, the U.S. Forest Service will offer free fishing and boating during the first weekend in June.
-
Ho-hum election
Psst! Want to know a secret? There’s a primary election Tuesday. And it’s right here in Kentucky! However, there has been so little interest in this election, that Secretary of State Alison Lundergan Grimes, the state’s top election official, is predicting that only betwixen 10 and 12 percent of the state’s eligible voters will take the time to go to the polls tomorrow.
- More Editorials Headlines
-
Focus on music
15 Dead in Northern Italy's 5.8-magnitude Quake
Angry Birds Spreading Their Wings
Witness Describes Fla. Face-chewing Attack
Man Falls Off Crane, Dies After Police Standoff
Raw Video: Cop Shoots Man Eating Another's Face
Russia Condemns Ally Syria Over Massacre of 108
Raw Video: Earthquake Shakes Evacuees in Italy
Dairy Farm Uses Chiropractor to Help Cows
Unexpected Smog in Pristine National Parks
Air Canada Plane Makes Emergency Landing
New Ticks Spread Across Southeast, Diseases Rise
Bring Your Own Tech Programs Charge Up Students
Pope's Butler Vows to Help Vatican Investigation
Mother of Allegedly Abused Girl Denies Claims
Raw Video: 19 Dead in Qatar Shopping Mall Fire
Service Dogs Help Wash. Soldiers Battling PTSD
Raw Video: Heckler Bursts in on Blair Testimony
Japan Farmers Plant, Seek Radiation-free Rice
Vatican in Chaos After Butler Arrested for Leaks
