Partisanship Blocks Prison Savings Plan

In his annual address to the General Assembly, Gov. Timothy M. Kaine proposed saving the state some $5 million by accelerating the release of nonviolent inmates who have responded well to prison rehabilitation programs. The early releases would range from 30 to 90 days.

Given that the state is facing a budget shortfall of at least $3 billion, one would think that any effort by the Democratic governor to save public money deserves some praise. Such praise, however, has not come from the Assembly’s Republicans. That’s a shortsighted view, especially among those GOP lawmakers in the House of Delegates.

Under current policy, the state Department of Corrections can release certain inmates who have served longer than a year 30 days early. Those inmates, of course, must have demonstrated good behavior during their incarceration.

That early release frees up space in the state prison system for inmates from crowded local jails. The early release also saves the state some money.

But don’t bother Republicans on the House Appropriations Committee with either of those advantages of releasing inmates early. They heard testimony on the governor’s proposal last week from the director of the corrections system.

“This is a wild-haired idea,” said Del. Robert Tata, R-Virginia Beach. He took the dim view that people released into a bad economic environment would go out and commit crimes again. Some of those inmates are already being released 30 days early. So the governor wants to add 30 days or maybe 60 days to that. How will that impair society?

It won’t. But the Republicans have seized the issue to drive home their hard line, law-and-order position. They know their position plays well among the voters, even though it does not always make sense.

Gene Johnson, director of the Department of Corrections, told the committee that 60 percent of new inmates in the prison system have a history of substance abuse. And about one-fourth of them are serving time for drug offenses.

Some of those offenders, particularly those who have behaved, could be let out early, he said, without endangering society. “We want to lock up people we are afraid of and not ones we’re mad at,” he added.

Kaine’s proposal would free up state prison space so inmates now kept in local jails could be moved to the prison system, Johnson said. He estimated 835 inmates now in state prisons and 364 in jails could qualify for early release.

The impending construction of a new jail in Amherst as part of the Blue Ridge Regional Jail Authority is testimony enough for the need for additional prison space. The $50 million jail will house as many as 400 inmates. Many of them will come from crowded jails in Amherst, Appomattox and the regional jail facility at Moneta.

The governor’s proposal will ease some of that crowding at the state level and it will reduce spending at the Department of Corrections by some $5 million. There’s nothing wrong with that — especially at a time when the state is trying to make up such a huge shortfall in revenues.

But will the Republicans give up on this partisan issue that makes them look tough on law and order? We’ll see.