On June 15, 2001, Governor M.J. Foster, Jr. signed Act No. 403, a law that abolishes mandatory minimum sentences for certain nonviolent crimes and reduces some sentences for drug offenses. The act also establishes "risk review panels" for inmates convicted under older, harsher mandatory sentencing rules who seek release early to relieve jail crowding and reduce the state budget.

The purpose of the act is to reduce the $600 million annual cost of prisons, which hold about 36,000 persons. Senator Charles Jones (D-Monroe), lead author of the bill, said that many inmates are serving extended sentences for small drug charges. For example, one man received seven years in prison for selling $60 worth of marijuana. The state could end up paying $300,000 to hold him for the full sentence, according to Sen. Jones. Advocates of the new approach said the state could save $60 million a year in prison costs - one of the fastest-growing expenses in state government.

The panels - each made up of a representative of the Department of Public Safety and Corrections, a retired judge, a probation and parole officer, a warden, and a psychologist - have already started reviewing applications. Corrections Services Section Undersecretary Bernard "Trey" Boudreaux said about 6,000 inmates serving mandatory minimum sentences for minor drug offenses or nonviolent crimes are eligible to apply to the review panels for early release. Applicants who pass the review are recommended for hearings before the parole or pardon boards.

The following conditions make an inmate ineligible to apply for early release from prison via a risk review panel:

· Conviction of a violent crime.
· Conviction of a sex offense against a person under 18.
· Conviction of a drug offense involving 28 grams or more of cocaine or one pound or more of marijuana.
· Sentence as a habitual offender if one of the crimes was violent or a sex crime.
· Participation in the IMPACT boot camp program.
· 180 days or less left of a prison sentence.
· Felony detainer or open warrant.

The panels have the discretion to turn down inmates for a variety of reasons, including extensive criminal history or poor disciplinary record while in prison.

Sen. Jones said this bill "protects the citizens from a public safety standpoint. It is the fiscal and moral thing to do." Senate President John Hainkel (R-New Orleans), and the chairman of the House Criminal Justice Committee Rep. Danny Martiny (R-Kenner), were among the conservatives in the Legislature pushing to change the mandatory minimum policies once championed by "law-and-order" advocates.

Sen. Hainkel called this measure the most momentous piece of legislation lawmakers considered all year. "It became very clear to us in the Senate that the current corrections system is ludicrous from a fiscal standpoint and from a moral standpoint it is even worse," he said. "We decided it was definitely worth the effort to try and find a way to protect the public's safety without just throwing away the key to the jail cell, a way to turn non-violent offenders into taxpayers rather than tax takers."

"This sentencing reform effort is a giant step in improving Louisiana's penal system," said Senator Don Cravins, chairman of the Senate Judiciary B Committee. "It is a big first step in our attempt to bring under control a system that has gone haywire."