Jail Overcrowding and Court-Ordered Reform: Critical Issues for the Future (From Visions for Change: Crime and Justice in the Twenty-First Century, P 199-214, Roslyn Muraskin and Albert R. Roberts, eds. - see NCJ-158451)

• NCJ Number: 158465
• Author(s): W N Welsh
• Date Published: 1996
• Length: 16 pages
• Sale Source: Prentice-Hall, Inc
• Publication Type: Survey
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This chapter discusses current trends in prison overcrowding and predicts that problems related to overcrowding will persist into the next century.

Abstract

Specifically, the chapter predicts that prison overcrowding will remain despite the increased use of intermediate sanctions and community corrections, that incarceration rates will be driven by political forces, and that courts will be increasingly reluctant to order large-scale reforms. Overcrowding can be traced to several sources: crime rates, the prevailing legal and political environments, economic and social conditions, criminal justice resources and expenditures, and public attitudes toward crime. The impact of court-ordered prison reform can be seen through changes in institutional conditions, jail administration, and certain systemwide implications. 4 notes and 74 references