Binghamton Press and Sun-Bulletin, March 21, 2021, p. A12

Bill Martin
Guest Columnist

The teenager who got hit by a bus and missed a meeting with his probation officer? Sent back to the county jail and then the state prison.

The youth who wants to live with his family rather than his assigned adult shelter? He dare not, for that will violate his probation and send him to the Broome County jail.

The local SUNY student who relapsed in his recovery from alcohol, or the women who went back to using drugs? Both are now parole violators, so back to the county jail and then a stint in a state prison.

It’s a common story: A person is incarcerated not for committing a new felony, but for violating technical rules imposed by the courts and parole or probation officers. It’s a plague across the state that cost $683 million last year alone.

It’s also very costly here. Broome County is spending over $1 million a year on jailing technical parole violators. Even prior to COVID conditions and the trimming back of bail reform, the annual costs were running at $770,000 per year.

In a period when the county cuts public health nurses and mental health funding year after year, our elected officials, judges and parole officers continue to spend millions to incarcerate local residents who break technical rules and most often need treatment, not further incarceration.

Judges and parole officers often claim they have no alternative, leading them to administratively decide to incarcerate multitudes — without considering the $70,000 to $80,000 cost of doing so. Is it any wonder that Broome County regularly has the highest incarceration rate in the state? The Less is More bill before the Senate (S1144) and Assembly (A5576) offers an alternative. It proposes moderate reforms that would cut back incarcerating people for technical parole violations. It would reward persons who comply with parole requirements. It would still allow incarceration for serious violations, but would end automatic incarceration based on mere accusations of a violation. Parole officers would follow new rules and no longer fear retribution for not automatically imposing incarceration, ending an easy administrative decision that ends up costing the county $70,000 or more.

In the coming months, local faith and community organizations will be working to urge adoption of the Less is More bill. Assembly Member Donna Lupardo is a cosponsor, while Sen. Fred Akshar’s position is not known, as yet.

It’s time to vote for justice and sensible fiscal reform.

Bill Martin is a Bartle Professor at Binghamton University and founding member of Justice and Unity for the Southern Tier.

[Note: table costs added here]