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| N.H. Law May Let Well-Behaved Inmates Out Early |
| By Associated Press |
| Published: 01/19/2004 |
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Legislators are reviewing whether New Hampshire's "truth-in-sentencing" law should be revised to allow well-behaved inmates to be released early. Since the law requiring inmates to serve their minimum sentences went into effect 20 years ago, the prison population has increased from 331 in 1982 to more than 2,500 today. A bill before the Legislature would bring back "good time," as the old system was called. The measure would allow well-behaved prisoners to cut up to one-third of the time from their minimum sentences. The Department of Corrections estimates the change would cut the number of inmates by 475, enough to empty the new prison in Berlin. The department also estimates it would save the state $3.3 million annually, even though more probation officers would be needed to monitor those released. Opponents of truth-in-sentencing have failed in at least three attempts to reverse the law. But the current bill's sponsors hope this year will be different, because the state is in the midst of a budget crisis. Gov. Craig Benson's efficiency commission recommended bringing back good time, following a national trend. The bill would apply to all prisoners except those sentenced to life in prison without parole, such as those convicted of first-degree murder. Lawmakers are also considering exempting rape and some other violent crimes. The bill also would apply retroactively. New Hampshire was among the first states to strengthen its sentencing laws. Other states followed, but in the last two or three years, about half the states have reconsidered laws passed in the 1980s and 1990s that made prison sentences longer. |
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