news-record.com

Gov. Mike Easley finally spoke about the state's probation system failures this week, but his response showed why problems haven't been fixed: no leadership from the governor.

Easley blamed the legislature for not providing enough funding to hire more probation officers. He blamed the state's structured-sentencing guidelines for leaving too many dangerous criminals out of prison.

Those excuses just don't wash. Easley has been governor for the past eight years. He was attorney general for the previous eight years. That's 16 years when he could have pushed for tougher sentencing laws. He didn't.

Nor has his administration battled the legislature over money for probation improvements. At times, The News & Observer of Raleigh reported, his budget office killed requests from the Department of Correction to hire more officers.

Those aren't even the central issues. As chief executive, it's Easley's job to make sure state agencies carry out their functions properly with the resources provided. Even if probation services were inadequately funded, they could have focused on the offenders most in need of close supervision. The governor could have made sure effective managers were running those agencies.

Whatever Easley thinks of sentencing guidelines, he ought to know it's not feasible to build prison space for thousands more criminals. An effective probation system is necessary. He just didn't take enough interest to shore up a system in disrepair. Even reports pointing out shortcomings and clear examples of failures apparently didn't catch his eye.

The News & Observer documented 580 killings by individuals on probation since 2000. That many deaths should have alarmed the governor, if he was paying attention.

Easley leaves office soon. Bev Perdue inherits a big job that he ignored.