Lawmakers Look To Change Prison Policy

By Susan Haigh

Associated Press

HARTFORD –– Some state lawmakers are making an 11th-hour pitch to change how Connecticut spends its money on prisoners.

A bipartisan group claims too many people with minor probation and parole violations are clogging the prisons. The state can save millions of dollars, they said, by restructuring the system.

And those reforms, they said, should be included in the new two-year budget agreement that has yet to be reached by legislative leaders and the governor.

“We have no interest in letting people out of prison who’ve engaged in horrendous acts,” said Rep William Dyson, D-New Haven. “What we’ re looking at is what we do, a little more efficiently.”

According to a proposal compiled by two national experts on prison issues, Connecticut could save as much as $50 million each year by limiting the growth in the prison population. The plan calls for moving some money from the regular Department of Correction budget into community-based programs, helping ex-offenders stay off drugs, find work, and successfully transition back into society.

Michael Jacobson, a former commissioner of the New York City Department of Correction, and one of the authors of the proposal, said there are 2,300 to 2,400 people in Connecticut prisons every day serving time for violating the terms of their parole or probation.

Many times, he said, those violations are relatively minor, such as missing scheduled appointments or testing positive for drugs. Yet, violations could mean a former inmate has to return to prison and serve out the remaining portion of his or her sentence.

On average, he said, Connecticut probation and parole violators spend 12 to 14 months in jail. The national average is three to nine months.

“Implementing a series of measures, including sanctions short of incarceration, to reduce technical violations by just 25 percent would save the state approximately $9 million annually,” Jacobson said.

He said the state should be investing money into helping newly released inmates during their first several months of freedom. There should be supportive programs, such as job counseling and drug treatment, to help prevent people from violating the terms of their release and alleviating the demand for prison beds.

Many of Connecticut’ s jails are considered overcrowded. Rep Robert Farr, R-West Hartford, said taxpayers should realize it costs more money to keep someone in prison –– about $20,000 a year –– than it does to support a family of four on welfare –– less than $14,000.

“We have to change our system and raise expectations,” Farr said. “We have to have a correction system that really corrects behavior.”

Mr Dyson, co-chairman of the legislature’ s Appropriations Committee, said legislative leaders and the governor have discussed the package of proposals for curbing the inmate population during budget negotiations. He said there is a tentative agreement that if some of the reforms are enacted, the state might send an additional 2,000 prisoners to out-of-state jails to relieve the overcrowding.

Mr Dyson has opposed sending inmates out of state, but acknowledged it could be a stopgap measure until the reforms free up prison beds. There is little interest in the state for building new prisons, he said. In the meantime, he said the state must do something quickly because it may face a lawsuit because of the overcrowded conditions.

Sal Luciano, executive director of AFSCME Council 4, which represents 5,000 state correction officers, said the state should not consider shipping out more inmates. He said prisoners sent to out-of-state jails are more likely to reoffend. Also, it is a hardship for the inmates’ families, he said.

“There are many mentally ill patients that aren’t getting the care that they need. We understand there needs to be [alternative incarceration] programs,” Mr Luciano said. “But shipping them out of state is not a good idea for lots of reasons.”