In the first place, while the AP article from which Mr. Abler quotes emphasizes the fact that one in every 100 Americans is in prison, it does not point out that according to the national Bureau of Statistics, "After sharp increases in the 1980s and 1990s, the incarceration rate has recently grown at a slower pace."

One of the factors in these declines is that states are finding other methods of treating people who commit non-violent crimes. In 2003, more than one third of inmates in prison were there because of drug-related offenses. In the same year, only 8 percent of new admissions were drug-related.

Prison is not an effective way to treat non-violent law violators. At least 95 percent of all state prisoners will be released from prison at some point; nearly 80 percent will be released to parole supervision.

Among state parole discharges in 2000, only 41 percent successfully completed their term of supervision; this rate is relatively unchanged since 1990.

Because of this high recidivism rate and the cost of incarceration, states are turning to other community-based treatment programs that have a much better success rate. Drug courts are one of these.

According to a study released by the National Institute of Justice in 2003, from a sample of 17,000 drug court graduates nationwide, within one year of program graduation, only 16.4 percent had been rearrested and charged with a felony offense. Restorative justice programs have similar success rates.

Incarcerating one in every 100 U.S. citizens is a costly process. It is a waste of tax dollars ($49 billion per year); it robs children of parents (more than 10 million children with parents in prison); and it creates a criminal underclass of people who cannot find gainful employment or decent housing.

The answer to this costly miscarriage of justice is not, as Mr. Abler implies, harsher treatment by parents and the justice system. We have tried that. It does not work.

As recent statistics show, the answer is holding people who violate the law responsible for their actions in supportive environments where they can learn and practice more responsible ways of living.

Contrary to what Mr. Abler asserts about community-based programs such as Head Start, VISTA, and Job Core, they have worked. According to the U.S. Census Bureau statistics on poverty in the 10 years after the 1964 introduction of the war on poverty, poverty rates in the United States dropped to their lowest level to date: 11.1 percent.

They have remained between 11 and 15.2 percent ever since. Since 1973, poverty has remained well below the historical U.S. averages in the range of 20-25 percent - although it is beginning to climb.

In this day when the prison population is high and still rising and poverty rates are beginning to increase again (more than one million children are added to the poverty roles per year, according to the U.S. Census Bureau), we do not need community leaders distorting the facts and calling for a return to methods that have not worked.

In the face of budget shortfalls, we should be supporting community-based programs that save money and lives rather than disparaging and cutting these programs.

Roger W. Lynn is Executive Director of the Lakes Area Restorative Justice Project.