North Carolina's criminal justice policies were misguided before the national economy collapsed and state revenues plummeted, leaving the General Assembly with a $4 billion shortfall to address in next year's budget.

And things have only gotten worse. Close to 41,000 inmates are in the state's prison system, more than the facilities are designed to hold.  State lawmakers know the number will grow to 50,000 in the next nine years unless something changes-and not much has in state prison and sentencing policies lately.

Legislators always seem willing to build more cells and that's about it, unless you count making sentences longer to look tougher on crime, adding even more strain to the system. Just over 2,200 cells will be built in the next few years, not nearly enough if building is the only strategy.

Governor Beverly Perdue knew all that too when she was putting her budget together and she not only ignored it, she proposed cuts that would make the situation worse.

She wants to close seven prisons to save $25 million. The closings would transfer more than a thousand inmates to other prisons that can't handle them. Perdue wants to double- bunk some prisoners, adding more pressure on guards and maybe violating federal standards for space required for each inmate.

Perdue also proposes abolishing Sentencing Services, a community alternative program that diverts offenders into treatment instead of prison. The program saves the state millions of dollars and gives almost 1,000 offenders a year second chance while they pay restitution to their victims and tackle their addictions.

Perdue told the News & Observer recently that she was not ready to support adjusting the length of sentences that helped create the prison crisis and wants to see what other states are doing first. That's political speak for the unwillingness to address sentencing reform because of the fear of being seen as soft on crime.

Perdue's not alone. State lawmakers have resisted proposals for the last several years that would saved up to 3,000 prison beds by making minor changes to sentencing laws.

The recommendations came from the Sentencing Commission, a panel made up of law enforcement officials, judges, legislators, and private citizens, hardly a soft on crime group. And they came with studies that show the changes would not translate into a higher crime rate.

That's one reason the state's district attorneys did not oppose the changes, leaving only lawmakers' lack of political courage standing in the way. It has stood in the way ever since.

Senator Ellie Kinnaird has introduced the measured recommendations from the Sentencing Commission again this session, though there's not much indication that attitudes have changed or backbones have stiffened.

Perdue's proposals to close prisons don't help. Neither does her refusal to support sentencing reform or her recommendations to slash funding for programs that keep people out of prison.

But the state can't build its way out of the prison overcrowding problem. It can't double-bunk its way out either.  A sane sentencing policy is part of the answer. It won't mean more crimes or less safe streets. It will mean the need for fewer prison cells and less taxpayer money.

Lawmakers also need to reject Perdue's proposals for abolishing Sentencing Services and cutting other alternative programs. That's foolish policy any year, but it is absurd now.

It's not about political courage anymore. It's time for some common sense.