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| Miss. House Clears Inmate Proposal to Increase Earned Time Off |
| By Associated Press |
| Published: 03/05/2003 |
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Some inmates could earn a day off for every day they work, rather than a day off for every three days worked, under a plan the Mississippi House OK'd recently. Penitentiary Committee Chairman Bennett Malone, D-Carthage, said increasing earned time off could save the state up to $10 million next fiscal year by moving some inmates out of the prison system more quickly. The Department of Corrections is struggling with a $40 million deficit this fiscal year, Malone said. The bill, passed 80-38, now moves to the Senate. Opponents said the change would reward undeserving criminals. Rep. Mark Formby, R-Picayune, said his aunt was killed by a habitual offender six months after the man was released from custody because of earned time off. Formby said it's difficult for him to envision the true worth of $10 million in a $3.5 billion state budget. 'I do know what it looks like to a taxpaying family who has had somebody murdered by someone who was released early,' he said. The earned-time plan would be off limits to some felons, including those convicted of capital murder, sex crimes and drug trafficking. |
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