CT. Prisons Overflowing, Intervention Needed
Posted on Wed Oct 17, 2007 at 09:20:35 AM EST
Tags: prison conditions (all tags)
Connecticut's prisons are a tinder box, overflowed to the point where disaster is sure to strike.
The problem is exacerbated because the Governor, in response to a gruesome killing by two parolees this summer, ordered parole suspended for violent offenders, a class that includes home burglars.
Cubicles built for four are crammed with eight inmates, and enclosed areas known as dollhouses where inmates once played cards and wrote letters now hold 14 bunk beds. The corridors are lined with more beds. Each large room at the Willard-Cybulski Correctional Institution once had 50 beds and now has 118.
A member of the prison guards' union says:
“My members believe we’re already at a crisis population,” said Jon Pepe, president of a correction officers union. “We’re only managing them because the population is letting us manage them.”....State Representative Toni E. Walker of New Haven said that halting parole removes inmates’ incentive to cooperate, and “you take away their hope.”
In addition to stopping parole, prosecutors are demanding more prison time in plea bargains and judges are imposing longer sentences.
It's never a good idea to change policy or enact new laws based on a singular event, no matter how horrific. Cooler heads are needed.
A better idea would be to follow through with this plan:
Recent measures aimed at relieving congestion and reducing recidivism have fared better, like electronic monitoring and granting “transitional release” to those near the end of their sentences.
Connecticut's prison population now stands at over 19,000, far more than its capacity. It looks like Connecticut will find out the hard way that it can't jail itself out of its crime problem.
| < Florida's Coddled Prison Guards | Mukasey Confirmation Hearing > |
