“If we need to build more prisons,” Tennessee House Speaker Cameron Sexton, R-Crossville said recently, “we can.”
That statement, it seems to us, is the wrong way to look at the issue of a potential state constitutional amendment aimed at keeping more criminal defendants in jail until they go to court.
Most Tennesseans, if asked, would say they want to see crime reduced, want to see those who commit crimes sentenced appropriately and want to see those who do the crime to do the time.
A resolution passed by legislators this year, though, would add a number of violent crimes to the list of offenses for which judges can — and that may be the key word — decline to set bail for pre-trial release. However, that list includes about 20 other crimes (including burglary) for which offenders — due to a measure passed by the legislature in 2023 — have to serve 85% to 100% of their sentences without parole.
The upshot is with the 2023 truth-in-sentencing law and with the potential for more offenders staying longer in jails before going to court, jails and prisons will become more overcrowded than they already are. That, in turn, would lead to the need for — as Sexton suggested — more prisons and more money spent to house the prisoners.