Arkansas May Change its Slogan To: “Commit the Crime, Pay NO Time”

             Arkansas’ Senate unanimously approved a bill this week to overhaul the State’s correctional system. Apparently the stated goal and intent of this 167-page piece of legislation is to “ to curb the rate of growth in the state’s prison population and the amount the state spends on lockups”. Our best minds, a group of state officials put together by the governor (think packed jury here)- called the “Arkansas Working Group on Sentencing and Corrections”, joined with a national prison overhaul group to come up with an absolutely brilliant idea on how to “curb the rate of growth in the state’s prison population”.

            Their solution – don’t send as many convicted criminals to jail!

            Ponder the brilliance of this idea. It has long lasting implementation prospects. Regardless of how many citizens, or folks traveling through, are convicted of crimes in the State of Arkansas, Arkansas will never need any additional prison space. Arkansas just won’t send them to jail. This isn’t just a short term, stopgap solution like so many political hair-brained schemes. It can last forever! And the State has saved the taxpayer vast sums of money that would have been required to incarcerate these miscreants.

            One slight concern and draw back does come to mind. As soon as the word spreads that in Arkansas you can “Commit the Crime and Pay NO Time” they could have an influx of “non violent” criminals. Oh what the heck, it will increase their population, maybe give them a 5^th U.S Congressional seat, and they’ll all be Democrats.

            According to the sponsor, Senator Jim Luker “… everybody has had ample opportunity to learn what’s in this bill and be satisfied with it”. The big ‘kahuna’ behind this unanimous vote may have been “A Pew Center On The States study released in January that found if Arkansas doesn’t make changes, it will spend an extra $1.1 billion on prisons in the next ten years and the prison population will grow 43%”. Making the recommended changes soon could save $875 million, the study by the Washington D.C-based center said. The study estimate, based on the current prison population of 16,018, would have 6,888 additional incarcerated criminals by the year of our Lord 2021.

Some less than glowing endorsements were noted. Senate President Henry Boyce said, “…the prosecutors are ‘hopeful’ the legislation will improve the criminal-justice system”. Sen. Jason Rapert said, “…that the law-enforcement community’s fears have not fully gone away”. Perhaps these reservations are partially based on the fact that the study was conducted by an organization with the name of “Pew”; or maybe because “Le Pew Center” is based in that home of all great ideas and good things for us outland citizens, Washington D.C.

Of course some of the prosecutorial and law-enforcement reservations might cluster around the concern of returning 6,888 “non violent” criminals to the streets to potentially continue to practice their profession; or perhaps even graduate into “Violent Criminals.” Seems like a logical concern to me.

But the good news is that all the cost of these additional “non violent” crimes resulting from a band of brigands wandering the streets will fall upon the individual victims and not upon the taxpayers as a whole. So if your mother has her purse snatched at the WalMart parking lot, no big deal to the rest of us. If your car disappears from the Kroger lot while you are there to take advantage of the ‘Senior Savings’ Tuesday sale, no big deal to the rest of us; after all you should be insured for that. As for the home TV and electronics that disappeared while you were on vacation, check with your Home Owner’s Insurance Company. Seems only fair to me. Put the cost squarely where it belongs, on the backs of all those rich citizens that own stuff that “non violent” criminals desire. Why should the rest of us be taxed just so you can keep all those things that the “non violent” criminal desires?

So, even if it isn’t officially changed by the State Legislature from “The Wonder State”, as soon as the word spreads across the nation and into Mexico, the unofficial Arkansas State slogan will be “ Come to Arkansas. Commit the Crime but Pay No Time.”

Hope all you citizens out there go get your concealed gun carry license, not that you will ever need it. Remember these are all “non violent” friendlier type of criminals.