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WASHINGTON: RELEASING 'LOW-RISK' INMATES IRRESPONSIBLE
The Washington State Department of Corrections released approximately 280 Washington inmates last week because the state legislature approved Senate Bill 5990 in April. The Senate passed the bill in an attempt to close the state of Washington $2.65 billion budget deficit.
This decision, however, has damaging consequences and will not solve the Washington state budget problem.
The bill allows eligible, low-risk prisoners, such as sex or drug offenders who show good behavior or performance, to be released up to 50 percent earlier than originally sentenced. It also reduces, and in some cases, eliminates supervision of released inmates.
Releasing convicts into Washington communities before completing their full sentences will cause the crime rate to skyrocket. According to statistics provided by Washington Department of Corrections, approximately 35 percent of current Washington inmates have previous prison experiences. Although the prisoners being released are considered low risk, the chances that they will again commit crimes are high.
Prisoners should not be rewarded with early release when they have shown good behavior in a correctional facility. This ingrains in inmates the idea that they can weasel out of any dilemma with only minor consequences. Prisoners will not receive the discipline that is needed before being released back into Washington communities, and larger, more harmful crimes could occur as a result.
By 2005, an estimated 550 prisoners will be released into the Washington community. This threatens citizens' sense of security. Washington citizens expect and deserve to feel safe within their own communities. The trust of citizens will rapidly disappear as more inmates receive early releases and flow into homes next door and down the street.
Children especially will suffer. Not only are children easy targets for sex offenders being released, they also present a strong market for drug traffickers. According to the Washington State Department of Corrections, more than 80 percent of the inmates released into Whatcom County, Washington last week are drug offenders. Past connections with drug dealers and users will enable former convicts to make drugs readily available for curious adolescents.
The Senate has a duty to take care of its people, and several legislators argue that the bill is a positive change. It costs approximately $24,000 per year to provide housing, food and health care to each Washington prisoner. By releasing low-risk criminals and cutting costs for supervision, the state of Washington is expected to save nearly $40 million - a small step toward closing the budget deficit. It does not seem the lawmakers considered the additional costs that would occur by passing this bill.
In the end, however, the state will end up spending just as much - if not more - money. The state will have to pay for the legal costs of arresting these released prisoners several more times. When many of them are inevitably sent back to jail, the state will be forced to once again pay for their housing costs.
Finding a solution to closing the Washington budget deficit will not be easy. If Washington lawmakers insist on saving money on prisoners, then they must go about it in an entirely different way.
If the state of Washington is willing to put so many drug offenders back on the street, it should not have put so many behind bars. It would be more worthwhile if drug offenders were sent to treatment centers at the time of their arrest. Police and court costs are less than $2,400 for the average treated client. Also, the likelihood of felony arrests decreases after the completion of a treatment program by 33 percent, according to a report by the Washington Department of Social and Health Services.
With the new bill, the criminal justice system will be focused on reducing the number of excess prisoners than with the well-being of society as a whole. The Senate needs to realize that the benefits of giving criminals treatment and counseling will be much higher than needlessly releasing them without the supervision they obviously still need.
The Washington State Department of Corrections released approximately 280 Washington inmates last week because the state legislature approved Senate Bill 5990 in April. The Senate passed the bill in an attempt to close the state of Washington $2.65 billion budget deficit.
This decision, however, has damaging consequences and will not solve the Washington state budget problem.
The bill allows eligible, low-risk prisoners, such as sex or drug offenders who show good behavior or performance, to be released up to 50 percent earlier than originally sentenced. It also reduces, and in some cases, eliminates supervision of released inmates.
Releasing convicts into Washington communities before completing their full sentences will cause the crime rate to skyrocket. According to statistics provided by Washington Department of Corrections, approximately 35 percent of current Washington inmates have previous prison experiences. Although the prisoners being released are considered low risk, the chances that they will again commit crimes are high.
Prisoners should not be rewarded with early release when they have shown good behavior in a correctional facility. This ingrains in inmates the idea that they can weasel out of any dilemma with only minor consequences. Prisoners will not receive the discipline that is needed before being released back into Washington communities, and larger, more harmful crimes could occur as a result.
By 2005, an estimated 550 prisoners will be released into the Washington community. This threatens citizens' sense of security. Washington citizens expect and deserve to feel safe within their own communities. The trust of citizens will rapidly disappear as more inmates receive early releases and flow into homes next door and down the street.
Children especially will suffer. Not only are children easy targets for sex offenders being released, they also present a strong market for drug traffickers. According to the Washington State Department of Corrections, more than 80 percent of the inmates released into Whatcom County, Washington last week are drug offenders. Past connections with drug dealers and users will enable former convicts to make drugs readily available for curious adolescents.
The Senate has a duty to take care of its people, and several legislators argue that the bill is a positive change. It costs approximately $24,000 per year to provide housing, food and health care to each Washington prisoner. By releasing low-risk criminals and cutting costs for supervision, the state of Washington is expected to save nearly $40 million - a small step toward closing the budget deficit. It does not seem the lawmakers considered the additional costs that would occur by passing this bill.
In the end, however, the state will end up spending just as much - if not more - money. The state will have to pay for the legal costs of arresting these released prisoners several more times. When many of them are inevitably sent back to jail, the state will be forced to once again pay for their housing costs.
Finding a solution to closing the Washington budget deficit will not be easy. If Washington lawmakers insist on saving money on prisoners, then they must go about it in an entirely different way.
If the state of Washington is willing to put so many drug offenders back on the street, it should not have put so many behind bars. It would be more worthwhile if drug offenders were sent to treatment centers at the time of their arrest. Police and court costs are less than $2,400 for the average treated client. Also, the likelihood of felony arrests decreases after the completion of a treatment program by 33 percent, according to a report by the Washington Department of Social and Health Services.
With the new bill, the criminal justice system will be focused on reducing the number of excess prisoners than with the well-being of society as a whole. The Senate needs to realize that the benefits of giving criminals treatment and counseling will be much higher than needlessly releasing them without the supervision they obviously still need.
