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| Bill aims to ease burden |
| By The Philadelphia Inquirer |
| Published: 04/21/2008 |
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PENNSYLVANIA - Over the last quarter-century, residents of this remote Adirondack Mountains community, who at first reluctantly accepted a state prison in their midst, came to depend on it. It provided jobs and, with the inmate population, brawn for needed services. Then in January, residents were stunned to learn that Gov. Eliot Spitzer - as part of a cost-saving strategy - was planning to close the minimum-security facility, Camp Gabriels, and three others next year. A new approach to treating nonviolent offenders - along with declining crime rates - had driven the inmate population down by nearly 50 percent in minimum-security facilities, and it was no longer feasible to operate half-empty prisons, officials said. Gov. Rendell could only wish that Pennsylvania had that problem. A month after Spitzer's announcement, Rendell presented lawmakers with a starkly different picture. With the state's prison population skyrocketing, he said in his annual budget address, a spending increase was necessary, in large part because of rising prison costs. Read more. If link has expired, check the website of the article's original news source. |
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