Newsbrief:
"Irrational"
Sentences
Drive
Kentucky
Prison
Crisis,
Report
Says
11/19/04
A study authored by one of Kentucky's most respected and influential law professors finds the state's prison population has exploded by 600% since 1970 and says the growth will continue unless the legislature changes "irrational" penalties enacted by earlier lawmakers. The study points at drug sentences and a tough habitual offender law as the primary culprits. The study, "Difficult Times in Kentucky Corrections -- Aftershocks of a 'Tough on Crime' Philosophy," is not yet published, but a copy was made available to the Associated Press. It was authored by University of Kentucky law professor Robert Lawson, who not only wrote the state's current penal code in 1975 and drafted its rules of criminal evidence, but also instructed many members of the current Kentucky legislature in their law school days. "If they don't listen to him, they are not going to listen to anybody," state Parole Board Chairman John Coy told the AP. According to the study, which is based on statistics compiled by state agencies, the Kentucky's corrections budget has increased from $7 million to more than $300 million in that period. The trend not only threatens to bankrupt the state, the report said, but also threatens to create a permanent underclass. In 1970, Kentucky held 2,838 prisoners; by last year, that number had risen to 17,330. The number of people serving sentences as "persistent offenders," or those sentenced under two- and three-strikes laws, increased from 79 in 1980 to 4,187 last year. "We have demonized criminals en masse, lost sight of the importance of distinguishing between dangerous... and non-dangerous offenders, and laid a foundation for a new citizen underclass made up of parolees, ex-convicts and their families," the report said. Under Kentucky law, people can be charged as "persistent offenders" even for nonviolent felonies, such as drug possession. State law also increases the felony level for a second drug offense. In his report, Lawson called both measures "brutally harsh" and recommended reforming them if the state wants to get a handle on its prison population. The laws are not only costly and ineffective, wrote Lawson, they are immoral. "The three strikes law permits and sometimes even requires punishment that is morally indefensible... and that works to warehouse for extended periods offenders who are unlikely to inflict serious harm on the public," the report said. The Lawson report will only add momentum to efforts to reform the state's sentencing laws. In August, the Kentucky Drug Summit report, the end of a months-long effort to achieve a more rational drug policy, called for a reduced emphasis on incarceration of drug offenders. That report was embraced by Gov. Ernie Fletcher and his Lt. Gov. Steve Pence, the state's justice secretary (https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle-old/352/kentucky.shtml). Pence this week told the AP he agreed with much of Lawson's report. "We cannot incarcerate our way out of the drug problem; we need to sentence drug offenders in a smart way," said Pence. But despite calls for reform, significant political opposition remains. "The way you get elected is by being tougher on crime, not softer on crime," Lawson told the AP. "It'll be difficult to turn the tide here against what I believe is excessive use of imprisonment."
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