Is Penal Reform a Political Risk for Sen. Webb?

Virginia Sen. Jim Webb believes that America’s prison system needs reforming. And this spring he plans to introduce legislation to accomplish that. It’s a politically sensitive issue, but he makes a good case for it in a number of venues.

As The Washington Post reported recently, Webb, a Democrat and now Virginia’s senior senator, described a number of symptoms pointing to the need for prison reform. Jails teem with young black men who later struggle to rejoin society. Drug addicts and the mentally ill take up cells that would be better used for violent criminals.

And why have these and other issues been allowed to fester in state and federal prisons? Webb says politicians have failed to address what has become a costly problem for fear of being labeled “soft on crime.”

The usual approach to criminal justice in Virginia and elsewhere has been to lock up the offenders and throw away the key. Virginia put an exclamation point on that in 1995 when the state abolished parole.

One result, Webb says, is that low-level drug users languish in prison for mandatory five-year terms, while many of the drug king pins escape apprehension and arrest and continue to ply their trade on the streets.

In speeches and a book, “A Time to Fight” that devotes a chapter to prison reform, Webb describes a U.S. prison system that is deeply flawed in how it targets, punishes and releases those identified as criminals. According to the Pew Center on the States and other groups, the United States has 2.3 million people behind bars, a higher percentage of its population than any other nation. In addition, as of 2006 there were more than 5 million additional people who have recently left jail and are under “correctional supervision,” including parole, probation and other community sanctions.

A disproportionate number of those incarcerated are black, Webb says. Black Americans make up 13 percent of the population, but they comprise more than half of all prison inmates, compared with one-third two decades ago. Today, Webb told The Post, a black man without a high school diploma has a 60 percent chance of going to prison.

The costs of housing and feeding and maintaining the inmates is skyrocketing. In his book, Webb writes that the U.S. is home to about 5,000 prisons and jails, with more under construction. In 2006, state governments alone spent $200 billion on prison construction. He also wrote that the combined expenditures of local, state and federal governments for law enforcement and corrections personnel total more than $200 billion a year.

He added that while recent figures are difficult to obtain, the average cost in 2001 of operating a state prison was $22,650 per inmate annually. For federal prisons, it was $22,632. By some estimates, Americans are now spending about $50,000 a year for every inmate.

By comparison, the amount of public dollars spent on college students is a pittance.

The senator also blames policies that strip felons of citizenship rights and can hinder their chances of finding a job after their release. He says he believes society can be made safer while making the prison system more humane and cost-effective.

Webb acknowledges that politicians who put prison reform on the legislative dinner plate open themselves up to criticism by opponents that they are soft on crime. But he believes that the subject is born of true leadership and that the best interests of society can be served by a thorough examination of it.

Webb has never been one to shy away from tough subjects. This one is no different. He deserves all the support he can get.