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| Sholeh Patrick |
Prefer prevention to punishment
With mounting pressure on the county sheriff's department to manage growing jail populations, commissioners to find a solution, and the public to pay for most or all of it, a myopic view won't cut the mustard.
Crime -- prevention and punishment -- can only be approached from a broad perspective, or the "fixes" won't do more than a Band-Aid. That means state agencies and legislators, and, to some extent federal representatives, have to be part of a creative and multifaceted approach to a problem much wider than housing inmates.
Specialized courts, such as our local drug and mental health courts, are a good start. We're still lacking juvenile drug and other specialized courts that other jurisdictions of our size already have. Of course, with those specialized programs often go creative housing and rehabilitation approaches.
"Soft on crime" is a frequently uttered phrase at anything beyond the toss 'em all in the slammer and throw away the key attitude. The false feeling of security that provides satisfies a psychological fragility natural to everyone, but it does nothing to reduce the problem. Statistics have repeatedly borne out that harsher sentences have done absolutely nothing to reduce the incidence of crime.
Local drug court programs, on the other hand, while still relatively young are already showing reduced recidivism rates in enough cases to justify their continuance. However, adding more and creative, specialized programs in the justice system is a state issue. County commissioners could lead the way and foster more discussion, but legislators and state agencies must be part of the lawmaking (administrative or statutory) required to make it happen.
Stepping back a bit further, a few national statistics on budget priorities -- comparing the inexorably linked education and incarceration -- are rather illuminating:
• First year that the 50 states combined spent more on building prisons than colleges: 1995
• Number of state universities built in California, 1984-1994: 1. Number of prisons: 21.
• Increase in corrections spending in New York between 1984 and 1994: $761 million. Decrease in spending on state colleges and universities in New York between 1984 and 1994: $615 million (with major crime rises these examples are illustrative)
• Average percent increase in state spending on higher education, 1985-2000: 29 percent
• Average percent increase in state spending on corrections, 1985-2000: 175 percent
This shift in societal focus to punishment over prevention seems to be accomplishing little but fuller prisons.
Sholeh Patrick is an attorney and a columnist for the Hagadone News Network. E-mail sholehjo@hotmail.com
s.Paquin wrote on Jul 18, 2008 4:26 PM:
1500 pedioriles will be procecuted.Teachers, Counselor, Coaches, psycologists people who work with students and change the shope of their minds every day. How SAD id that
Countless children might be saved. Only one request is that NOooooooo webcam in their rooms.
Justin was trying to Save a friend involved also and every day the Justice Dept lagged behiind.like watching a house go up in flames and to try to rescue his friend.
The goverment justice dept didn't start rournding them up 60 days later.A black mark on that Dept.When is our government going to get their head out of their------. Fire them all and put them on welfare and see if they can make a sucess out of that and leave the rest to us.It can't be any worse.
Isn't any one in the goverment listening to us Cry for Help with our young. Justin's mother was a "