LINCOLN- When asked whether or not Nebraska would require even more beds after building the proposed 1,500-bed prison, Diane Sabatka-Rine, interim Director of Corrections, responded "yes." The proposed prison would cost around $220 million, but former State Sen. Steve Lathrop, former head of the Judiciary Committee, believes Sabatka-Rine's response to be an indication that supporters of the bill see it as just the beginning of a large spending spree on prison beds.

"If there's not some meaningful prison reform, which by the way will make our communities safer," said former Sen. Lathrop, "then we're looking at spending half a billion dollars to accommodate our prison population to the year 2030." Lathrop was among several senators pushing for changes to Nebraska sentencing that would allow inmates to be released from prison sooner.

The proposal to enact this change was shot down during the last Legislative session, with Gov. Ricketts calling it "soft on crime." In response to this, Lathrop said that Nebraska "is going to be known as the state that won't listen" to data-driven prison reforms recommended to us by experts all over the country.

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