Plan would ease prison overcrowding
The Associated Press

Thu, Oct 30, 2008 (11:57 a.m.)

The Nevada Pardons Board is considering a plan to free up prison space by releasing large numbers of first-time inmates who have two years or less left on sentences imposed for nonviolent crimes.

Justice Jim Hardesty, a Pardons Board member, said illegal aliens in that category could be pardoned and turned over to the federal immigration agency for deportation.

He also asked state prisons chief Howard Skolnik to identify inmates legally in the U.S. who might qualify for early releases, saying it would be much cheaper for the state to pardon them to alternative programs.

Hardesty said Wednesday that inmates would have to be evaluated on a case-by-case basis, and the pardons would be conditional. Any new offenses would result in reinstatement of initial prison sentences.

Hardesty said large numbers of inmates could be either deported or released to alternative programs. He noted that nearly half of the inmates in the Nevada prison system are serving time for first offenses, and there are 1,730 inmates wanted by immigration authorities for deportation.

Justice Michael Cherry, also on the Pardons Board, said he'd like to see how many inmates are serving first terms for nonviolent crimes and have three or four years remaining on sentences. He said the cost of probation or alternative programs for those inmates "has got to be much cheaper than prison."

Pardons Board members asked Skolnik to provide a report on inmates who might qualify for early releases. They also agreed the challenge will be finding enough alternative programs for inmates getting out of prison.

Overcrowding is forcing the state to spend hundreds of millions of dollars on prison construction. More than 13,000 inmates are now in state prisons and camps.

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