I think just about everybody has heard about prison overcrowding at some point. Generally, communities aren't very willing to pay for more prisons. After all, that is money that could be going to schools, roads, or community centers. In my state, the solution they have come up with is to try to get the inmates back on the streets as soon as possible. That can be a good thing when you are talking about some of these guys that made a stupid mistake but are generally a pretty good citizen. Keeping them here longer than necessary can actually be a bad thing.
However, it seems to be happening more and more that the dangerous ones are let out too early. We have had multiple guys being released early lately that immediately went out and murdered people. One in particular shot two police officers and a K-9. It seems to be these guys getting out more than the harmless guys.
Personally, I think if they have gang affiliation, that should be a HUGE red flag. If they have murdered before and seriously harmed someone, especially a police officer, that should be something that would almost guarantee they don't get out early. There are so many cases that I have seen that should be obvious that that particular inmate is a serious threat to society still yet they let them out any way. They are so desperate for room.
Some would say to start by caring for the kids before they turn into criminals. I agree. However, what do we do until then? How do we have room to house prisoners while trying to get our numbers down? It all seems to come down to money and as I stated before, who wants to give more money to prisons when it could go elsewhere? After all, most of these guys (about 97%) will be getting out someday and will become our neighbors. How they are treated effects how they will treat us when they get out. So, what is the answer? Will we ever find it? This is a discussion we need to have, yet rarely talked about but things will not get better until it is.
