A Mississippi pitch for drug courts and getting smarter on crime and punishment

Writing here in the Clarion-Ledger, a state judge (and former state senator) makes a strong pitch for drug courts in Mississippi.  Here is part of the pitch:

Lt. Gov. Phil Bryant, while serving as state auditor, released a report from his office which concluded, in part, that the drug court systems are "an effective community-based strategy to reduce drug use and crime, generate cost savings at the local and state level and allow statewide exchange of information between Circuit Court districts."

That report estimated that Mississippi could save about $5.4 million dollars annually based upon merely 500 participants going into a statewide drug court system instead of being housed in the state Department of Corrections. By the way, that was not a typographical error.  That was $5.4 million dollars that the taxpayers would save based upon the estimate.  There are currently more than 1,700 participants actually in the drug court program statewide. You do the math.  Drug court works.

Building on this drug court commentary, the paper's editorial board makes a broader pitch for getting smarter about crime and punishment.  Here are some snippets from the interesting editorial:

Gov. Haley Barbour signed a bill into law earlier this year to restore common sense to sentencing in the criminal courts — making some 7,000 inmates eligible for parole by relaxing sentencing guidelines.  Senate Bill 2136 relaxed the state's so-called 85-percent rule, passed in an ill-advised moment in 1994 when the Legislature took the federal government's "get tough on crime" challenge and raised it.

The so-called "Truth in Sentencing" law was the result of a nationwide push for tougher sentencing, and Mississippi lawmakers responded. This newspaper supported the law. Famous last words: It seemed like a good idea at the time.

Unfortunately, Mississippi overreacted, and the law worked too well.  Congress had told states to pass tougher laws to continue receiving federal funds for prisons.  While the federal mandate was for violent criminals, Mississippi made it for all offenders. Mississippi has been on a prison-building binge ever since, trying to keep up with the ever-increasing number of those incarcerated: mostly drug-related or nonviolent....

It makes sense — and dollars and cents — to shift "tough" on crime to smart on crime.  Drug courts must increasingly become part of the solution to prison crowding and ineffective drug treatment in this state.