NCJ Number
94644
Journal
Hustler Dated: (June 1984)
Date Published
Unknown
Length
7 pages
Annotation
America's bursting prisons inspire idleness, despair, hostility, and bitter rage and are likely to erupt into serious riots unless reforms are implemented.
Abstract
Prison violence is dramatically on the rise, and State and Federal prison populations have grown dramatically since 1981. The numbers game is led by Texas, California, New York, and Florida, but overcrowding is serious all over. Adding to the difficulty are the increased numbers of women sent to prison and the tens of thousands of juveniles locked up each year in adult jails despite the practice's questionable constitutionality and Federal regulations. Nobody ever said prison was meant to be fun, but what it's become today is only a shade better than barbaric. Inmates are forced to double up in a tiny cells, noise is unabating, vocational training programs have been curtailed by budget cutbacks, and most inmates have nothing to do all day. In California, four major gangs operate within prison walls. Guards are poorly paid and in many respects not better off than the prisons, although admittedly many are abusive. Rampant crime and unemployment are cited as reasons for the prison population's doubling in the last decade, but the most significant factor contributing to overcrowding is the public attitude which demands a 'get tough' approach to dealing with crime and is reflected in determinate sentencing laws. Because prisons are very expensive to construct and maintain and don't deter crime anyway, other alternatives are needed. Possibilities include fines for less serious offenses, restitution, community service for nondangerous offenders, early release on probation for nonviolent offenders, and contracting prison operations out to private businesses.