NCJ Number
97027
Journal
New York University Review of Law and Social Change Volume: 12 Issue: 1 Dated: (1983-1984) Pages: 259-297
Date Published
1984
Length
36 pages
Annotation
This article considers the nature and scope of the prison crowding problem, successful and unsuccessful approaches used to deal with it, and the scope of remedies (should they focus on the prisons or on the entire criminal justice system). Responses to and discussions of the article are included.
Abstract
The dramatic increase in imprisonment rates in the United States over the past decade is reported. Also discussed are the numerous court orders, and litigation likely to result in court orders, regarding prison overcrowding. Attention is given to studies which indicate that violence increases with increasing population density in correctional institutions and that prison deaths and hypertension increase as prisons exceed capacity. The importance of efforts to end the stalemate between the courts and the correctional administrators concerning the problem is cited. Issues involved in prison crowding are identified, including increases in crime, changes in demography and in the criminal justice system, and the growth of the criminal justice system. Finally, four approaches to remedying the problem of overcrowding are suggested: (1) reducing admissions to the prison system, (2) accelerating releases, (3) building more prisons, and (4) tolerating the status quo. Responses to the paper call for better management of crowded prisons, suggest that sentences be reduced as a way of reducing suggest that sentences be reduced as a way of reducing prison populations, and suggest that tolerating the status quo may be preferable to building more prisons. In the discussions, recommendations are made to 'get the kids before they get into the jail system,' to improve the classification procedures in correctional institutions, and to give inmates the tools necessary to prevent recidivism. Seventy-two references are included.