Nonviolent convicts fill state prisons - Alabama Proposal Would Provide Alternative Sentencing

Alabama courts have sent more people to prison for drug possession than for the violent crimes of murder, manslaughter, rape and robbery combined. Second to possession is drug distribution. None of the top five crimes for which people are sent to prison are violent offenses, according to an analysis of five years of data in the Alabama Sentencing Commission's 2005 report. That breakdown could change if legislators adopt a commission proposal aimed at sending fewer nonviolent offenders to prison, to make room for violent criminals. "The war on drugs needs to encompass what you do with them once you catch them, and obviously prison may not be the most effective alternative. Long-term drug treatment for some offenders may well be the most effective weapon in the war on drugs," said Rosa Davis, chief assistant attorney general who works on the commission. "Some of them just need to be locked up. The drug users may need treatment," she said. The proposal, called Sentencing Standards, would involve a point system based on an offender's current offense and criminal history. Separate worksheets for drug, property and personal offenses would cover 26 crimes. [more]