Cries for Reform
No longer are the people crying loudest for change prisoners and their families.
The cries are coming now from legislators, citizens and the Department of Corrections. A lot of the cries are prompted by costs. The Department of Corrections is asking for $1.6 billion for fiscal year 2007-08, a 13-percent increase.
The picture painted yesterday was of a system bloated with inmates -- many nonviolent offenders with substance-abuse issues -- who aren't getting enough help or training. Poised to fail when they are released, they often return to prison and add to the swelling population.
John S. Shaffer, executive deputy secretary of the state Department of Corrections, said yesterday's state prison population was 44,700, or 115 percent of capacity. The number of prisoners grows by 125 a month.
NANCY ESHELMAN in The Patriot News