Editorial: Charting new course for prisons

Monday, July 30, 2001 | 9:09 a.m.

In recent years there have been some common-sense changes made to Nevada's state prison system, whether it's providing drug treatment for substance abusers or offering better rehabilitation programs so that inmates don't return to crime when they're eventually released. Just last week a front-page story in the New York Times highlighted how Nevada and some other states are taking a different approach to dealing with a growing number of juvenile inmates. The reason for the increase of younger inmates is due to the passage of laws that have made it easier to convict youths as adults.

Instead of placing teenagers in the same cells with older inmates, the Nevada Department of Corrections more frequently is housing juvenile inmates in a unit that is separated from where older inmates are located. Not only are younger inmates more prone to being beaten or raped by older inmates, but the thinking also is that if they mix with hardened criminals they will end up worse than when they came in. And since most of these young men will one day be released, prison officials believe it makes more sense to try to reach them early and try rehabilitating them before there is no hope left of turning their lives around. To do nothing increases the likelihood that the inmates, once they're released, will commit the same crimes again or possibly even more violent ones.

During the 1990s Nevada wasn't immune to the tough-on-crime movement that swept much of the nation, resulting in stiff sentences for criminals. Often these stricter laws were understandable responses to instances where felons weren't being dealt with harshly enough in light of the severity of their crimes. Obviously many of the criminals are in prison for committing heinous crimes, and the public isn't going to feel sympathy for their plight. Still, there are a number of inmates behind bars who have been convicted of nonviolent acts or may be in prison for drug-related crimes. The key is ensuring that those who have the potential for rehabilitation get some assistance. Department of Corrections Director Jackie Crawford is charting a sensible course that emphasizes discipline, yet also acknowledges rehabilitation as an important part of the prison's mission .