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to loWer gas prices, up energyproduction

by: Kaitlin schmidtke,mississippi director,

consumer energy allianceGas prices, which were at consumer-friendly levels most of

the winter, have jumped up in recent weeks, and many are feel-ing the crunch.

However, while we’re all looking for ways to extend a tank ofgas and improve environmental performance by checking tirepressure and reducing air conditioning usage, for instance,there’s only one dependable way to get these costs in line:Produce more homegrown energy and reduce the price of gasitself.

To do that, we need more domestic energy production,onshore and off. Through safer technologies, our home-growntalent can produce the energy we need here, under the safestregulations in the world, and not expensively import it from other,far less environmentally-conscious nations. To reduce pricey bot-tlenecks, we also need more pipelines, the safest way to moveenergy.

While customary seasonal maintenance at refineries hastightened supplies, so, too, have cuts in production overseas,perhaps even more so. Consider the cuts Russia and SaudiArabia made, then pair those with recent crises in Venezuela andIran, reducing inventories and increasing oil and gas prices.

To stabilize the supply-and-demand equation and keep jobshere, we need to back the strategy that has largely shieldedAmericans from foreign price shocks for years. That’s supportingpolicies that ensure the production of energy sources here athome.

criminal justicereform

by: Wyatt emmerichthe legislature has just

passed another bill designedto tackle Mississippi’s sky-highincarceration rate.

How high is it? England andFrance, which have about thesame standard of living asMississippi, have one-tenth theincarceration rate as our state.Indeed, Mississippi has one ofthe highest incarceration ratesin the world.

Like a lot of Mississippians,my approach to crime hasbeen simple – just lock themup. That’ll learn ‘em. But like alot of things in life, it’s neverreally that simple.

For one thing, low pay forguards has created a brokenprison system in which criminalgangs have infiltrated our pris-ons, running the contrabandconcession as a profit center.

Gangs operate both in andout of prison. To survive inprison, gang membership is anecessity. Prisons havebecome a breeding ground formore criminality. Rather thanreducing crime, prisons areincreasing crime.

So it’s crucial to break thiscycle and keep young peoplecapable of rehabilitation fromfalling into the gang trap. Oncethere, it’s almost impossible toescape.

We’re talking about a lot ofsouls. Twenty-nine thousandMississippians are locked upin local, state and federal facil-ities. That’s a four-foldincrease over the last 30years.

So why does America, andMississippi, lock up so manypeople compared to Europeand the rest of the world?Study after study has shownthat America embraces a puni-tive approach while Europeembraces a rehabilitativeapproach. America spends $9on incarceration for every onedollar on rehabilitation. InEuropean countries, it’s justthe opposite.

In Europe, prison sen-tences are shorter and thegoal is to reintegrate the indi-vidual back into society asquickly as possible. InAmerica, sentences are longer

and reintegration is not consid-ered a government function.

Our nation’s unique historyis a factor: We had to conqueran indigenous people. Slaverywas critical to the southerneconomy. Guns, whips andchains are part of our culture.

Unfortunately, our punitiveapproach has created a per-manently disconnected under-class. That breeds crime.

Times change. Technologyand better communication canbe an engine of progress.Public policy research is morereadily available. Bad policy ismore quickly exposed. Moversand shakers are betterequipped to move forward.Voters follow their lead. That’swhat’s happening.

About five years ago a newthink tank emerged: FWD.us,funded by Bill Gates, MarkZuckerberg and a dozen ormore super rich finance andtech titans. FWD.us has feeton the ground in Mississippi.Staffers are actively workingwith state legislators to makereform a reality.

It’s an amazing coalition ofboth the left and the right,national and local. Not only isthe ACLU and the SouthernPoverty Law Center on board,but also the conservative Kochbrothers’ Americans ForProsperity, Mississippi’sCenter for Public Policy,Empower Mississippi andClergy for Prison Reform.

Then there are individualcrusaders like Christina Dent.Check out her podcasts. Hernew nonprofit End It For Gooddeserves support. She is oneof the most thoughtful and per-suasive speakers I have everheard.

FWD.us targeted fourstates for reform: Mississippi,Arizona and Oklahoma for itshigh rate of incarceration andNew York for its sheer numberof prisoners.

The first step was political:FWD.us commissioned a com-prehensive poll revealing wide-spread discontent with ourcriminal justice system. Eightypercent of Mississippi believeit is important to “reduce thenumber of people who are injail or prison.” By a two to onemargin, Mississippians believe

incarceration increases crime.The poll was necessary to

battle the knee jerk lock ‘em upreaction of the typical statelegislator. For decades, no leg-islator wanted to be seen assoft on crime. Penalties wereheaped on penalties. Non-vio-lent offenders began servinghuge sentences without parole

for technical parole violationsand drug addiction. Finally, somany average Mississippianswere affected through friendsand extended family that opin-ion changed.

As a columnist, I keep hear-ing horror stories. Last week adistraught mother, Lisa Moore,

came to the Sun. Her 19-year-old ADHD son was sentencedto 50 years for breaking intocars. He will serve a minimumof 12 years before he getsparole. That’s nuts.

One lady was sentenced tofive years without parole forone pill box of opioids. Threethousand Mississippians are injail for technical violations suchas not showing up for hear-ings, driving with suspendedlicenses, not paying fines andfailing drug tests. So it goes.

Mentally ill and addicts aresent to prison instead of treat-ment, making their alreadychallenging conditions infinite-ly worse.

In the early 1990s, I was co-chairman of the Metro JacksonCrime Commission with WirtYerger. The crack epidemicwas raging, the crime rate wasskyrocketing and we cried outfor more incarceration and gotit. I was co-chairman of Gov.Kirk Fordice’s commission forcriminal justice reform. Wepassed sweeping new lawsbolstering victims rights. Myanti-crime credentials areimpeccable.

But over the years I havelearned that it is much morecomplicated. Research is find-ing better solutions.

It is beyond the scope ofthis column to write about allthe details of how House Bill1352 addresses reform. It’s alengthy bill. As voters, weshould encourage our repre-sentatives to keep moving for-ward.

The FWD.us gurus, otherthink tank experts and the con-ferees are aware of the touchpoints. For example, peoplewho are in minor trouble with

the law are not very organized.Yet the legal system requiresthem to jump through all sortsof hoops under the threat ofimprisonment. Reducing thesehoops will lower the incarcera-tion rate. Our current system isdesigned for failure and impris-onment. We need a reality-based system that gets peoplein crisis back on track, notstuck in jail.

One example is suspendingdrivers licenses for minor drugpossession and failure to payfines. You can’t function inMississippi without a car, sopeople drive anyway, getcaught and go to jail, settingthem down a vicious spiralalienation, resentment anddestruction.

Make no mistake: Lawabiding citizens need to beprotected from truly violent,incorrigible criminals. But ourincarceration of the non-violentdepletes our resources to fightthose genuine threats to publicsafety.

This is not a new story. Godgave Moses a lot of laws butwe couldn’t help but breakthem. The wages of sin wasdeath. It got so bad God wasabout to wipe awayhumankind.

God came up with a newplan. Christ came to earth,ushering in a new covenantbased on grace, faith, forgive-ness and redemption. Onlythen did mankind begin itsslow climb out of barbarity.

For a state that overwhelm-ingly professes Jesus as ourKing, we sure have an OldTestament criminal justice sys-tem. It didn’t work very well forGod. It’s not working very wellfor Mississippi.

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