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Deal and other leaders to push for drug sentencing reform

By Aaron Gould Sheinin
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

3:44 p.m. Tuesday, February 15, 2011
Gov. Nathan Deal on Wednesday will see his first major piece of legislation introduced, a bill that could ultimately lead to a major change in how the state prosecutes certain drug and alcohol offenders.

The governor will be joined at a news conference by Speaker David Ralston, Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle and Supreme Court Chief Justice Carol Hunstein to show support for the measure, which will be introduced in the state House by Rep. Jay Neal, R-Lafayette, chairman of the State Institutions and Property Committee. House Minority Leader Stacey Abrams, D-Atlanta, will also speak.

The bill would first create a special council to study criminal sentencing. The council would report back to a new joint legislative committee in 2012 with recommendations. Deal expects the commission’s recommendations to include ways to expand special drug and DUI courts and explore ways the state could stop incarcerating non-violent drug offenders. The governor, and others, think it makes more sense, both fiscally and from a rehabilitation standpoint, to get those offenders help, including rehab and job training.

Georgia, which has the nation's highest rate of criminal punishment, spends $1 billion a year to lock up lawbreakers. One in 13 Georgians is behind bars, on probation or on parole, according to the Pew Center on the States, more than double the national average.

Deal, who first raised the issue of alternative sentencing for drug offenders in his January State of the State address, told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution that it is an idea whose time has come.

"We know the recidivism rate is unacceptably high for people who are incarcerated and released without any real treatment, real assistance in assimilating back into our society," Deal said. "Those repeat offenders many times become more dangerous the more they cycle through the system."

Ralston, who has also discussed the possibility of sentencing reform, said Tuesday the state is paying -- literally -- for its get-tough-on-crime policies of years ago.

"It's just become very, very expensive," Ralston said. "The chickens have come home to roost for some of our efforts to toughen up sentencing."

Neal said research shows the state can find successful alternatives to incarceration.

"There's plenty of evidence that the way we have addressed these types of offenders in the past has not been effective," he said.

The concept has the support of the conservative-leaning Georgia Public Policy Foundation. Its president, Kelly McCutchen, said they first began studying the idea of reform two years ago.

"As fiscal conservatives we don't believe in just throwing money at any problem," McCutchen said. "And spending over $1 billion on corrections in Georgia, we believe it's time to look at opportunities to be smart on crime, not just tough on crime."

But Deal and others emphasized that any sentencing changes would only be for non-violent offenders.

"I will not do anything that will jeopardize the safety of our citizens," Deal said. "There are some lines we can draw to show those distinctions."