Editorial: Proposed reforms are worthy

Monday, April 15, 2002 | 8:48 a.m.

Prisons have long been criticized for warehousing inmates instead of rehabilitating them. Critics point to the inevitable result of this warehousing, which is that released inmates often return to prison after returning to a life of crime. Aside from the damage to victims wrought by repeat offenders, there is the cost of more prisons that become necessary as this cycle repeats itself. A plan under consideration by a Nevada Department of Corrections study committee would, if successful, cut down on the number of prison beds needed and reduce by half the rate of former inmates returning to prison.

There is $15 million in the state budget dedicated to adding 500 beds to the newly built High Desert State Prison, a medium-security prison northwest of Mount Charleston near Cold Creek. But the study committee, which was appointed by Gov. Kenny Guinn, is suggesting an alternative that would use only $6 million of that amount while providing a more progressive program for inmates and, ultimately, safer communities for the public.

The $6 million, instead of going toward expanding High Desert, would be spent at the Southern Desert Correctional Center at nearby Indian Springs. A 600-bed minimum security work center would be built, rendering unnecessary the 500 new beds at High Desert. Medium-security prisoners with good behavior and only two or three years remaining on their sentences would be eligible to move to the center and receive training that would prepare them to enter the work force upon release. The additional hundred beds could be rented out to other states or the federal government.

Another idea being considered by the committee is building a 300-plus bed re-entry center in Las Vegas for nonviolent inmates with two years or less to serve. While still prisoners, the inmates would be able to work full time in the community. The center would be partially funded through rents the inmates would pay. This program, an expansion of similar programs under way, would free more space in the expensive medium-security prisons, further cutting down on the need for expansions.

The suggestions by the committee members, which include Nevada Department of Corrections Director Jackie Crawford, are worthy of serious consideration. While not in the "coddling" or "soft on crime" categories, they do take a progressive view, one that could benefit the inmates, the public and the state budget.