Jails Overflow, While Justice Flags

"Do the crime. Do the time." This popular slogan slathered over billboards and bumper stickers reflects a politically popular approach toward crime. The approach is partially effective, but the cost is choking states, counties and municipalities—and more importantly, it is not rehabilitating criminals.

by Cecil Maranville

One of the most popular political platforms in recent years is that of being tough on crime. People want to be safe; they want their children to be safe; they want their communities to be safe. So, a "lock them up and throw away the key" mentality motivated the legislation of strict crime laws, which in turn reduced some crime and filled America’s jails to overflowing.

Britain’s jails are also overcrowded. The BBC recently solicited people’s opinions about what to do about the problem (Web published, Aug. 28, 2003). Several people advocated the same "get tough" approach the United States has been following. Michaela Manvill of Devon advises: "Prisons should go back to the way they used to be, two to four people to a cell, locked in them for 23 hours a day with only porridge or bread to eat and water to drink!"

Several recommended the reinstitution of the death penalty—by hanging.

But the results of the U.S. "get tough on crime" approach are receiving mixed reviews.

U.S. jails and prisons currently hold more than 2 million men and women, according to data recently published by the Department of Justice’s Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS). That translates into one in every 142 Americans. The present ratio of the population in prison is more than four times what it was in the mid 1970s, five times the rate of imprisonment in Britain, eight times the rate in France and 14 times the rate in Japan (Charles Meredith, "Education Key to Addressing Prison Cost," 2003, The Morning Call).

As with any statistics, these can be interpreted in different ways, depending upon what one chooses to emphasize. Liberal voices decry skyrocketing numbers of arrests and incarcerations for relatively minor offenses, while conservative voices applaud decreased violent crime trends.

Read the full article at www.ucg.org/news-and-prophecy/jails-overflow-while-justice-flags

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