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| Proposal would address overflow at prisons |
| By advertiser-tribune |
| Published: 05/03/2009 |
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Despite the recession, business is good at prisons in Ohio. The state's prisons are designed to hold 38,665 people but now are housing 50,814. With state corrections facilities now at 132 percent of capacity, prisons director Terry Collins says the situation is getting worse for inmates and corrections staff. Prison overcrowding is bad for inmates, staff and, ultimately, all Ohioans. Violence, theft and a lack of access to programs meant to keep inmates from committing another crime after release are getting worse as crowding grows. Collins planned to testify Wednesday in the Ohio Senate, which is considering a bill that would reduce Ohio's prison population. Among changes in the proposal: sending some nonviolent offenders, including people who fail to pay child support, to community-based programs instead of prison cells, and granting inmates more time off their sentences for good behavior and for taking part in programs that have proven to reduce recidivism. The bill would not permit sex offenders and those guilty of first- and second-degree felonies to earn time off their sentences. That would help keep dangerous criminals behind bars. Legislators and their constituents might not be sympathetic to the impact of overcrowding on inmates. ''We care because it's an issue for my staff, and people should care because it's an issue for taxpayers," Collins told The Associated Press. "Everybody that's here is costing, we figure, 60-some dollars a day to be here.'' Read more. If link has expired, check the website of the article's original news source. |
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