States rethink prisons amid recession

WASHINGTON, March 25 (UPI) -- Some U.S. states long seen as tough on crime are taking a more pragmatic approach to their prison systems during the economic downturn, analysts say.

Because of soaring prison costs and shrinking revenues, some states such as Colorado and Kansas are closing prisons, while others such as Michigan are freeing prisoners who have yet to service their full sentences, The New York Times reported Wednesday.

In Kentucky, for instance, the state Legislature moved to beef up credits some inmates can earn toward release. In New Mexico, Democratic Gov. Bill Richardson has signed a bill outlawing capital punishment, which was seen as costly as well as questionable ethically, the newspaper said.

"When state budgets are flush," Barry Krisberg, president of the National Council on Crime and Delinquency, told the Times, "prisons are something that governors and legislators all support and they don't want to touch sentencing reform. But when dollars are as tight as they are now, you have to make really tough choices. And so now things are in play."

The downturn is forcing lawmakers to view prisoners less as merely wrongdoers and more as expenses that need to be brought under control, observers told the Times.