T
The420Guy
Guest
Date: Thu, 07 Dec 2000 14:09:27 -0800
From: "D. Paul Stanford" <stanford@crrh.org>
To: restore@crrh.org
Subject: WA: Prison system suggests cutting drug sentences to save
money
Message-ID: <5.0.0.25.2.20001207140736.0504a280@mail.olywa.net>
Prison system suggests cutting drug sentences to save money
The Associated Press
12/7/00 1:50 PM
OLYMPIA (AP) -- State prison officials, responding to a request by Gov. Gary
Locke to identify possible budget cuts, say shorter sentences for some drug
offenders could save taxpayers $26 million during the next two years.
The proposal is part of an effort by state agencies to identify possible
cuts to help resolve an upcoming budget shortfall. The state is facing
expenses that exceed the voter-approved spending cap by at least $1.1
billion.
Locke must submit his budget proposal to the Legislature in two weeks.
Under the proposal sent to him by the Corrections Department, drug offenders
already in custody could have their sentences shortened, freeing up 525 to
700 prison beds.
Another option is to reduce prison terms for nonviolent drug users convicted
in the future for possessing or selling drugs, Margaret Vonheeder, deputy
secretary for administration for the Department of Corrections, said
Wednesday.
The suggested changes would buck a trend toward longer sentences.
"You'd be looking at people who pose the lowest risk to public safety,"
Vonheeder said. "We've talked about a lot of different sentencing changes."
The governor's criminal-justice adviser, Dick Van Wagenen, said Locke is
still reviewing agency spending proposals. But the ideas deserve a public
discussion, Van Wagenen said.
"The budget problems the state faces are very large and very, very real," he
said. "I don't think anything is going to be off the table in terms of how
the Legislature deals with them."
Also proposed for cuts are drug treatment inside prison walls for some
inmates, as well as elimination of all vocational training behind bars.
Vonheeder said cuts to drug treatment and vocational training are
"antithetical" to the agency's efforts to rehabilitate offenders and see
them re-enter society with a smaller risk of committing more crimes, but she
sees no other way to make large spending cuts without cutting full programs.
From: "D. Paul Stanford" <stanford@crrh.org>
To: restore@crrh.org
Subject: WA: Prison system suggests cutting drug sentences to save
money
Message-ID: <5.0.0.25.2.20001207140736.0504a280@mail.olywa.net>
Prison system suggests cutting drug sentences to save money
The Associated Press
12/7/00 1:50 PM
OLYMPIA (AP) -- State prison officials, responding to a request by Gov. Gary
Locke to identify possible budget cuts, say shorter sentences for some drug
offenders could save taxpayers $26 million during the next two years.
The proposal is part of an effort by state agencies to identify possible
cuts to help resolve an upcoming budget shortfall. The state is facing
expenses that exceed the voter-approved spending cap by at least $1.1
billion.
Locke must submit his budget proposal to the Legislature in two weeks.
Under the proposal sent to him by the Corrections Department, drug offenders
already in custody could have their sentences shortened, freeing up 525 to
700 prison beds.
Another option is to reduce prison terms for nonviolent drug users convicted
in the future for possessing or selling drugs, Margaret Vonheeder, deputy
secretary for administration for the Department of Corrections, said
Wednesday.
The suggested changes would buck a trend toward longer sentences.
"You'd be looking at people who pose the lowest risk to public safety,"
Vonheeder said. "We've talked about a lot of different sentencing changes."
The governor's criminal-justice adviser, Dick Van Wagenen, said Locke is
still reviewing agency spending proposals. But the ideas deserve a public
discussion, Van Wagenen said.
"The budget problems the state faces are very large and very, very real," he
said. "I don't think anything is going to be off the table in terms of how
the Legislature deals with them."
Also proposed for cuts are drug treatment inside prison walls for some
inmates, as well as elimination of all vocational training behind bars.
Vonheeder said cuts to drug treatment and vocational training are
"antithetical" to the agency's efforts to rehabilitate offenders and see
them re-enter society with a smaller risk of committing more crimes, but she
sees no other way to make large spending cuts without cutting full programs.
