BATON ROUGE — To say the legislative program of Democratic Gov. John Bel Edwards hasn’t fared well during the current legislative session would be a major understatement. However, the governor improved his odds this week when the Senate approved compromise bills designed to reform the state’s justice system.

The upper chamber has been sympathetic to governors over the years, but political partisanship has reared its ugly head in the House. A majority of Republicans there have shot down most of Edwards’ attempts to raise revenues designed to deal with an expected $1.3 billion budget deficit on July 1, 2018.

The state Republican Party also has made no secret of the fact it will do all it can to keep Edwards from winning a second term in 2019. The House GOP leadership has made good on its efforts to contribute to the cause.

Edwards, for example, declined to endorse any of the bills aimed at raising the state’s gasoline tax. The Advocate said that was “largely because even allies say doing so would damage efforts for passage.”

With that kind of partisan political opposition, you can understand why the governor was ready to accept a compromise to improve Louisiana’s record as the state with the nation’s highest incarceration rate.

Three bills that received solid support in the Senate Tuesday are expected to reduce the state prison population by 10 percent over the next decade. A February report from SmartAsset said Louisiana had 39,710 people in prison, which means there could be nearly 4,000 fewer inmates in 10 years.

SmartAsset is described as a personal technological company in New York that uses financial modeling to answer complex financial questions.

The organization said Louisiana has a population of 4.5 million and 39,710 prisoners, which makes the prison rate 0.88 percent. Other states in the top 10 are Alaska, Delaware, Mississippi, Oklahoma, Texas, Alabama, Arizona, Georgia and Arkansas, which is 10th with an incarceration rate of 0.55 percent of its population. Maine has the lowest incarceration rate at 0.16 percent.

Prison reform is the best example of liberals, conservatives and almost everyone in between joining efforts to improve the national prison incarceration rate. SmartAsset said the United States has the highest percentage of its population in prison in the world, even ahead of countries like China and North Korea notorious for locking away political dissenters. Close to 1.6 million people, 1 in 200 Americans, are currently serving time in a federal or local prison, the organization said.

The Associated Press reported that legislation approved by the state Senate creates expanded opportunities for probation and parole and shorter sentences for some offenders. Sen. Danny Martiny, R-Kenner, has been a leader in the reform effort and he said the Senate has backed the cause.

“This is a first step, but it’s a giant step in trying to turn this thing around,” he said.

Martiny said he and fellow legislators have passed bills over the years to stiffen prison sentences and restrict opportunities for release for many crimes and it’s time to correct those mistakes.

Sen. Mike Walsworth, R-West Monroe, voted against the bills, saying violent criminals weren’t being excluded from the changes because some of them plead guilty to non-violent crimes instead.

Martiny replied, “I agree with you. But what’s the solution? We just don’t do anything because this might happen?”

Senate Bill 139 by Martiny was approved 26-11. It expands opportunities for parole and probation for offenders. It also creates a furlough program for ill prisoners who can get health care under Medicaid, the federal-state health care program for poor and low-income citizens.

Senate President John Alario, R-Westwego, sponsored S.B. 220 that deals with lowering or eliminating mandatory minimum sentences for many non-violent offenders and S.B. 221 dealing with decreasing the minimum penalties for repeat offenders. Both were approved 28-8.

If the reform legislation gets through the House, most of the changes will affect prisoners convicted in the future of crimes like theft, burglary and drug possession. Others could become eligible for parole earlier.

The state’s sheriffs and district attorneys were uneasy with some of the reform ideas, and that is why a compromise was necessary. They were concerned about violent criminals being released back into communities.

Reformers wanted to make it possible for over 4,800 inmates serving life without parole to be made parole-eligible after reaching age 50 and having served 35 years. That was one of law enforcement’s concerns and it didn’t become part of the compromise.

Pete Adams, executive director of the Louisiana District Attorneys Association, told The AP, “We are going to support the package, and if it proves to be effective we can consider going further in future years.”

The legislation is expected to save the state $262 million in prison costs over 10 years, and 70 percent of that would be re-invested in programs designed to reduce the number of repeat offenders.

Reformers believe these and other changes to the justice system will make it easier for prison inmates, once released, to become contributing members to society. They hope these steps will end the belief that society is better served by “locking them up and throwing away the key.”

Gov. Edwards, legislators and others who are leading this reform effort deserve our gratitude for trying to improve Louisiana’s national image. We hope members of the House will join their ranks when they get to decide the fate of this well-thought-out legislation. 

Jim Beam, the retired editor of the American Press, has covered people and politics for more than five decades.