Looking to cover a $1.3 billion deficit in this year’s state budget, Gov. George Ryan has proposed releasing 4,500 non-violent drug offenders to save money.

In a press conference last week, Ryan said he is considering a plan that would release 4,500 inmates convicted of a Class IV felony, a charge that carries a sentence of up to seven months in prison.

Between 8,000 and 9,000 Illinoisans are convicted of a Class IV felony each year, Sergio Molina, chief of communications for the Illinois Department of Corrections, said, at a cost of $20,000 per year per inmate.

Most Class IV felony convictions are non-violent and drug-related, he said.

Ray Serati, deputy press secretary for Gov. Ryan, stressed that the idea was not an official budget proposal.

“It’s just a topic, part of budget discussions,” Serati said. “Who knows what will happen.”

Molina concurred, saying, “It’s gone no further than an announcement that that’s something that we’re working on.”

As it is just an idea, Molina said it was “premature” to answer questions regarding specifics of the idea, such as if the prisoners would be paroled or be transferred to treatment programs, or why the release would be limited to only Class IV felons who were convicted on drug charges.

Molina also said there was no timetable set up yet for the plan. The final state budget is expected to be worked out by mid-May, when the legislature adjourns.

“We’ll have to see what’s worked out,” he said. “The legislature has the final say.”

Differing opinions

While many local public officials have denounced the idea of releasing convicts for budget reasons, others claim it is a prime example of the need for prison reform.

“I think everybody should serve out their punishment,” Coles County Sheriff Ron Scott said. “I don’t think it’s a good move, but I’m not looking at his budget.”

Rep. Dale Righter said he opposed the idea.

“I think trying to (cut costs) by compromising public safety and letting drug dealers back on the streets is a bad idea,” Righter said. “I’d rather triple-cell them for a while.”

Molina said Ryan’s announcement was meant to “spark a debate” on alternatives to prison.

“As a society, we don’t think everyone who commits an offense belongs in prison,” he said. “Maybe we need to look at alternatives to incarceration, and not necessarily because of budget concerns.”

For example, Molina said convicted drug abusers could be sentenced to attend a community-based treatment program instead of jail.

Malcolm Young, executive director of The Sentencing Project, a prison reform advocacy group based in Washington D.C., supported Ryan’s idea, saying it is evidence that more alternatives to prison are needed.

“There are far more people in jail than there need to be,” Young said. “It’s very expensive and a relatively inefficient way to deal with a crime. (Ryan’s idea) will get people out who don’t need to be in for the safety of the community.”

Ryan’s idea in practice nationwide

In the wake of falling revenues because of the Sept. 11 attacks, many states have tried to reduce their prison populations and costs by reforming the way drug offenders are sentenced.

“(Gov. Ryan’s) proposal is consistent with a number of actions taken in a number of states,” Young said. “In the last year, many states pressed with high costs have taken steps to reduce their prison population.”

According to a study released by The Sentencing Project, five states have passed laws allowing drug treatment as an alternative sentencing option in the past year, while seven states passed bills meant to reduce prison populations.

California, for example, passed Proposition 36 in 2000. Under the new law, those convicted of a felony or misdemeanor drug possession for the first or second time are not thrown behind bars, but rather placed on probation and enrolled in a drug treatment program. Parolees who fail a drug test are also diverted away from more jail time to treatment programs.

Mike Brady, a public policy adviser to John Burton, president of the California Senate, said Prop. 36 has saved over 5,000 prison beds in the past nine months and placed about 20,000 convicts in treatment centers.

“(Prop. 36) has been a significant cost saver for the state, and of significant help to those who have this disease (of drug abuse),” Brady said.

The Sentencing Project study estimated that Prop. 36 will save the state of California between $200 to $250 million a year in prison costs, as well as an additional $450-$550 million in the long term because of the decreased need to build new prisons.

Yet while other states are changing the way they are treating convicted drug offenders, Molina said he does not know of any precedent to Ryan’s idea of releasing prisoners to save money in Illinois history.

“I haven’t heard of anything like that,” he said.