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My personal musings about anything that gets on my radar screen--heavily dominated by politics.

2007-07-26

Avoiding the 800 Pound Gorilla 

The Rocky Mountain News ran a breathless story today about the space crunch in Colorado's prison system. Below are a sample of the explanations given for the crisis--see if you can find the obvious one that's missing:

Unless lawmakers reverse the emphasis on incarceration, analysts now say, prisons can expect to house nearly 28,000 inmates in 2013, compared with 22,519 as of June 30 . . .

said Lance Clem, spokesman for the Colorado Department of Public Safety. "The crime rate is starting to level off, while the incarceration rate continues to increase." . . .

The state’s inmate population grew 6.8 percent between 1995 and 2005 — much higher than the 2.6 percent rate nationally . . .

Criminal-justice officials cite a variety of possible reasons, including a spike in drug offenses, stricter sentences and a continuing cycle of repeat offenders unable to break free of the prison system. . . .

"For every 1 percent we lower the recidivism rate, it reduces the future needs by almost $5 million over three years," he said. . . .

So there--do you see the problem? The missing link in the story?

So, let's see. If we're looking at a crisis, with numbers increasing from 22,500 to 28,000, that's about 5,500 new prisoners in the next five years.

5,500 . . .5,500 . . .hmmmmm. . .

Can anybody tell me the number of illegal aliens who are getting three-squares of slop and a cot every day on the govenment's dime?

It seems to me, and I may just be spitballing here, but if we just shipped all the illegals who are in prison BACK to Mexico (or wherever), I'll bet we could clear up a little space in the jails.
Posted by: Michael / 7/26/2007 12:06:00 AM

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