A paradox of the nationwide determination to punish violent offenders with ever harsher sentences, experts say, is the reduction of transition time in such settings as halfway houses. A toughening of rules designed to keep drug sellers out of public housing projects makes it harder for ex-offenders to find a place to live. In prison, drug treatment programs tend to be weak. Crime has been declining for seven years while prison and jail populations continue to reach new highs. What happens later is the topic of the day, for a majority of released inmates fail to make it on the outside and often return to jail.
Simple things count.
In Washington, for example, the Department of Corrections destroys inmates' property if no one collects it or pays for it to be shipped home within 15 days after arrest.