February 14, 2002

Editor
The Oak Ridger
P.O. Box 3446
Oak Ridge, TN 37830

RE: February 14, 2002 Editorial on Jail Overcrowding

Dear Sir:

While it is true that our jails are currently overcrowded it is not true that "get tougher" policies are the cause.

The cause has more to do with the fact that there has been no increase in state prison beds to keep up with population growth for over thirty years; the overflow has been squeezed down from the state to the counties in the form of a re-definition of felony crimes down to misdemeanors and delays in the state taking our convicts from jail to prison, and more.

Another big segment of the increased jail population is probation violators - some of whom are in jail because of technical violations (like not reporting) and not because of any new offenses.

So, far from "getting tougher" the state made sentencing "softer" by enacting the Criminal Code Reform Act of 1989 which quietly did away with "Class X" and the Habitual Criminal Act, and much more - SOLELY TO REDUCE PRISON POPULATION.

Get out the old retrospectoscope: releasing "murderers, rapist and thieves on an accelerated basis to free up space for the next batch" was accomplished in 1989. More similar "squeezing down" is in the offing because of the current State budget crisis.

Where was the sentencing outcry in 1989 when it would have done some good for law enforcement?

Very truly yours,

James N. Ramsey
District Attorney General

JNR/tg