Introduction The justice system has experienced substantial organizational growth and improvement over the years. This growth promoted individualized treatment of offenders achieved through institutionalization which led to establishment of prisons, juvenile courts among other rehabilitation facilities. These institutions serve the purpose of rehabilitating prisoners as well as instilling desirable values among them. Over the years, the crime rates and prison population have escalated substantially across most regions in the world. This has consequently resulted in overcrowding of correctional facilities and prisons. Prison congestion is a widespread problem that cuts across most regions and needs to be urgently addressed due to its negative effects on the process of rehabilitation of offenders. Reasons for Prison Congestion Although no direct correlation between crime rates and prison has been established, several explanations have been put forward to explain the rising problem of prison congestion. Prisons may be overcrowded due to failure to allocate resources or lack of resources to establish adequate modern prisons to accommodate the increasing number of prisoners. In addition, elevated crime rate increases the number of people carrying imprisonment sentences consequently promoting prison congestion. In most regions, congestion in the criminal justice system begins in courts where the overall judicial process is slow. Prison congestion consequently arises since large numbers of offenders are held indefinitely in prisons awaiting trial or due to missing files and complex law procedures. Sentencing policies in the criminal justice system plays a significant role in influencing the number of people serving jail terms. These sentencing policies are highly influenced by public opinion. There is need for reforms in the criminal justice legal system in order to discourage unnecessary and unfair sentencing. Further, most criminal justice systems are often associated with corruption, irregularities and malpractices which increases cases of unjustified sentencing. In developing countries, the highest proportion of the population is poor hence lacks the resources to hire private legal representation. Although some countries such as United States provide legal representation for the financially incapable, the wealthy often face lower convictions rates for similar crimes than the less fortunate. Most criminal justice systems lack after care and follow up services for discharged inmates. After care services are a very important follow up strategy on offenders designed to transform the offender social isolation and dependence resulting from imprisonment and to further accelerate his ability to adjust in the community (Devi 216). Often ex-convict face ostracism from society and this may hinder their improvement efforts. After care services promote improvement among the discharged offender hence reducing the likelihood of repetition of offence which may lead to imprisonment (Devi 216). Effects of prison congestion In addition to hindering effective rehabilitation process, prison congestion adversely affect the lives of the prisoners and the society at large. The criminal justice system often fails to respond to crime in a humane and efficient manner hence in most parts of the world, prisons display elements of violation of h