Damnation by Faint Praise, Redux

The Strib editorial board continues its usual scolding over the session - but correctly notices a potential bright spot.

Sort of.

It starts with the usual bla bla blah:

Minnesotans have every reason this week to roll their eyes at mention of the state Legislature...amazement at lawmakers' knack for fiddling while Minnesota fizzles...

Perhaps the Strib didn't notice - business is picking up, to the point where tax revenues are outstripping the Legislature's abiliity to spend it all.

But I digress:

However lawmakers have faltered, they deserve at least polite applause for approving these sensible changes. And another reform now heading for the law books actually merits audible cheers: After years of backpedaling, the Legislature this session finally took a leap toward rational drug sentencing.

Drug offenders - most of the non-violent - are a huge percentage of the prisoners in this state. Minnesota has plenty of prisons by any rational measure - and yet the pace of drug convictions pushes Minnesota to build more, and bigger, prisons. It has to stop.

With luck, it will:

Few Minnesotans seem aware of this heartening news -- hardly surprising given the public outrage over all the 2005 Legislature didn't do. [???? - Ed.] But the sentencing policy change signed this session by Gov. Tim Pawlenty could turn out to be monumentally important in shaping this state's future...the new law casts off Minnesota's old habit of locking up drug offenders or long prison stays in favor of a strategy that emphasizes thrift, community safety and enhanced public health. The new approach stems from research showing that simply incarcerating lawbreaking addicts does nothing to nudge them toward recovery before release. That outcome is best achieved by creating incentives to propel drug offenders through treatment -- a strategy known to markedly reduce recidivism among offenders who will otherwise almost certainly repeat their mistakes once they hit the streets.

Sponsored by Republican Sens. Julianne Ortman of Chanhassen and Tom Neuville of Northfield, this law promises a shrewder approach to drug crimes, not a softer one. The law permits earlier release for incarcerated, nonviolent drug offenders who successfully complete six months of drug treatment while in prison. The conditions eligible offenders must fulfill are strict: Before release, they'll face government review to assure they pose no public-safety peril. After release, they'll be obliged to participate in aftercare and drug-testing programs and to wear electronic ankle bracelets that make eluding official oversight impossible.

Which is a good start. The vast majority of people involved in the drug trade are consumers - addicts who need help with dependencies, rather than vocational education in crime.

Getting them out of the prison system will take the pressure off the state's system, and make room for the dealers, traffickers...

...and people who shoot people in the face, chest, groin and foot, among others.

Posted by Mitch at July 13, 2005 07:22 AM | TrackBack