Grab a broom, folks. We know what needs sweeping and where it belongs. Often, we don't take the time to dig deeper to look at an issue unless it affects us personally. And this issue is beginning to affect an awful lot of people. The number of people jailed in the U.S. has more than doubled since 1985.
Many prisons are overcrowded, and state budgets are strained by the high cost of incarceration.
However, a few officials in some states are showing a willingness to experiment with new ways of handling offenders. During the past thirty years, Federal and state governments have come to depend on incarceration as a catch-all solution for society's social ills. Unfortunately, most researchers conclude that prison expansion has done little to address the crime problem. Meanwhile, the high cost of prison expansion has crowded out funding for schools, hospitals and drug treatment-institutions which really do contribute to healthy communities. Finally, prison expansion has intensified public fear of crime and exacerbated racism.