THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, October 11, 1994 TAG: 9410110013
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A12 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Editorial
LENGTH: Short : 50 lines
Jails are difficult to run. After all, they are filled with criminals or people charged with crimes. So any sensible reforms that make jails easier to manage, ease the burden on the taxpayer and bring consequences to some of the prisoners' actions should be applauded.
And Norfolk Sheriff Robert McCabe's reforms embody such sensibility.
Having prisoners pay for a slim portion of their medical costs to cut down on unnecessary trips to the doctor, restricting the amount of food available to prisoners and curbing smoking in the jail are reforms that will save money and, with any luck, improve security.
Prisoners have been known to often fake injury or illness in order to take an unnecessary trip to the infirmary or hospital. Now, if they are not indigent, they will have to pay $10 to see a physician or dentist, and $5 to have a prescription filled.
The move was made possible by a law passed by the state legislature this summer, and many area jails are instituting similar plans.
Prisoners also use smoking materials to start fires, so taking away that priveledge also makes sense.
Easing up restrictions on how wardens run jails is a good move. As Virginia is about to have many more prisons and prisoners, time for increased reform is here.
Norfolk's jail is in bad shape and so strong leadership to whip it into shape is desirable. Future reforms that would make sense include prison factories and more work detils. Such programs help prisoners pay for their incarceration and teach them life skills they will need once they finish their sentences.
In many other cultures toleration for the costs prisoners impose on society is zero. But here the pendulum seems to have swung too far the other way. Prisoners' unlimited lawsuits and legal challenges, as well as other policies that make incarceration an added cost to the damage criminals have already done to society, make reform an urgent issue.
As government goes about trying to tackle crime, responsible prison reforms that keep costs low and help make prisoners responsible to society and the taxpayer are welcome indeed.
KEYWORDS: NORFOLK CITY JAIL
by CNB