The News Journal
Editorial
3/5/04
Better regulations finally turn
corner on crowded prisons
Finally, the growth in Delaware's prison population has
slowed -- enough so the state doesn't have to start planning to build
more cells.
For years, The News Journal and others interested in
prison regulations and costs have campaigned for eliminating minimum
mandatory sentencing and allowing the Correction Department flexibility
to use alternatives to incarceration for minor crimes. Last year, the
General Assembly responded by giving Corrections more leeway on minor
offenses, reducing long probation terms, and reducing a few minimum
mandatory sentences. It has paid off.
Correction Commissioner Stanley W. Taylor Jr. just told
the Legislature's Joint Finance Committee there was no immediate need to
plan a new prison. "For the first time in my career, the population is
reflecting a continuing negative trend," he said. Mr. Taylor has run the
prison system for nine years and came up through the guard ranks before
that.
In the past, the General Assembly attempted to defeat
illegal drugs and crime associated with the drug trade with minimum
mandatory sentences and long incarceration. It only aggravated prison
overcrowding and massive, expensive prison construction.
The Legislature's rethinking is commendable. Now take
another look at sentences with an eye toward further reform. This will
pay off in dollars not just for maintaining inmates but in redirecting
money to reduce crime though drug and alcohol treatment and employment
counseling.
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