At a glance
Class D felony: The least severe of four felony classes of crime in Indiana. The current penalty is a minimum of 6 months and a maximum of 3 years in prison.
Community Corrections: County-level programs that offer an alternative to jail or prison. Programs include electronic monitoring with ankle bracelets, community-service work crews, and rehabilitation programs such as substance-abuse counseling and job training.
Department of Correction: The state agency that oversees the prison system as well as programs dealing with convicted criminals.
Parole officers: State employees who monitor offenders after release from state prison.
Probation: The county-level program that monitors offenders out of jail but still under the court’s control. Probation officers are employees of the local courts.
Truth in sentencing: Most Indiana inmates can reduce their sentence by at least 50 percent by not causing trouble. They receive an additional day’s credit for each “good” day served. Other incentives, such as getting a college degree, can further reduce sentences. Under truth in sentencing, reductions are limited; one proposal would require some criminals to serve 85 percent of a sentence.
Some cocaine dealers are serving way too much time in Hoosier prisons.
This is one of the arguments in support of a legislative proposal aimed at reining in prison sentences for non-violent crimes. The controversial measure has support from Gov. Mitch Daniels and other key players but strikes fear into the hearts of lawmakers who don’t want to appear soft on crime.
While some of the debate revolves around rehabilitation versus punishment, the bigger issue is money. The proposal would shift hundreds of criminals each year from the state Department of Correction – the prison system – to county-level courts, probation and Community Corrections programs. The state would send more money to the counties – starting at a total of $5 million annually – but county officials worry the amounts will be insufficient, perhaps woefully so.
The idea that fewer criminals should go to prison comes not from a progressive advocacy group but from an independent, data-driven study of Indiana sentencing practices. Those who support the study’s findings include Daniels, Indiana Chief Justice Randall Shepard and Attorney General Greg Zoeller, not exactly wild-eyed liberals.
Released just two months ago, the study is the chief piece of evidence supporting the legislative proposal.
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