Proposed Amendment to Good Time Statute

            In the wake of the possible release of Michael Woodmansee, the Rhode Island Attorney General is proposing legislation to amend the statute providing time off for good behavior to persons sentenced to prison.   The essence of   the Attorney General’s proposal is to eliminate the time off provisions for persons convicted of serious crimes, including:

·         Murder;

·         Kidnapping of a minor;

·         First degree sexual assault;

·         Second degree sexual assault;

·         Third degree sexual assault;

·         First and second degree child molestation;

·         Child pornography;

·         First degree child abuse.

See the Attorney General’s blog dated March 23, 2011. 

            This proposal and other similar proposals introduced in the Rhode Island General Assembly should be rejected.   The goal of these proposals is to increase the amount of time people spend in prison.   Rhode Island ought to be moving in the opposite direction. We ought to be striving to reduce the number of people who are incarcerated and the amount of time prisoners are incarcerated.   One leading commentator has noted that:     

For the same crimes, American prisoners receive sentences twice as long as English prisoners, three times as long as Canadian prisoners, four times as long as Dutch prisoners, five to 10 times as long as French prisoners, and five times as long as Swedish prisoners. Yet these countries' rates of violent crime are lower than ours, and their rates of property crime are comparable. [Footnotes omitted]

            There are many salutary purposes served by good time provisions.   They provide an incentive for good behavior. They give prisoners a chance to see a little more light at the end of a very dark tunnel.   They provide a small measure of humanity in a very inhumane world.   For those of us, like myself, who practice criminal defense law, these good time statutes provide a small measure of hope, not only for criminal defendants, but also for their families.   Speculating about the ramifications of a new legislation is always risky, but I wonder if one of the consequences of these proposed new statutes will be to push more clients toward trial, because there will be a sense that not much will be lost by rejecting a plea bargain given the new anticipated length of   sentences.

            There are also sound economic reasons to reject the proposals to curb the application of good time credits.   Incarcerating prisoners is very expensive.    The Department of Corrections lists the annual cost of incarceration at different facilities to go from the $30,000+ range to over $150,000    ( Rhode Island Department of Corrections FY 2010 Costs Per Offender Table ).  The proposals to reduce or eliminate good time credits will mean that our State will be saddled with the increased costs resulting from longer sentences.   It is the quintessential bequest of an unfunded liability to the next generation.                                                                                                                                                                                          

Keywords: Murder; Kidnapping; Sexual Assault; Child Molestation; Child Pornography; Criminal Defense;  Good Time