Crime: 57 beats 61

By William McCall, Associated Press Writer
Wednesday, November 05, 2008 | No comments posted.

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PORTLAND — One crimefighting initiative proposed by Kevin Mannix was rejected and a second was likely to be defeated by voters on Tuesday because a less costly legislative referral offered as an alternative was approved.

Measure 62, a Mannix proposal nicknamed “CSI Oregon,” was rejected about 3-to-2 with 52 percent of the vote counted.

Opponents said Measure 62 would have cost schools about $100 million a year by amending the Oregon Constitution to devote 15 percent of lottery revenue to the Oregon State Police crime lab and district attorneys.

The other Mannix initiative, Measure 61, would have required mandatory sentencing of up to three years for first-time offenders convicted of property or drug crimes.

Although voters appeared to be approving Measure 61 late Tuesday, it likely would not become law because a legislative referral offered as an alternative was approved by a larger margin.

Measure 57 increases prison terms for repeat offenders convicted of nonviolent property or drug crimes. But it offers expanded treatment programs to prevent inmates from going back to their old habits.

Voters approved Measure 57 about 3-to-2, with 53 percent of the ballots counted — about 578,000 to 368,000.

The referral had the support of a coalition that included most district attorneys in the state, along with police chiefs, sheriffs, teachers, nurses and unions.

“It’s great that voters came together to support the broad-based coalition that supported Measure 57,” said Defend Oregon campaign spokesman Matt Blevins.

Supporters said the Mannix proposal not only lacked a drug treatment program, the cost would have easily exceeded $1 billion over the next five years, including the cost of building new prisons to hold all the inmates.

A fiscal analysis by the Legislature showed its Measure 57 would cost about $150 million less per year than Mannix’s Measure 61.

Democratic state Sen. Floyd Prozanski, one of the prosecutors who backed Measure 57, said inmate screening shows that drug or alcohol addiction is a problem for more than four out of every five people sent to prison.

He said treatment programs help reduce the number of repeat offenders, and there is widespread support for them among prosecutors, police and prison managers.
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