I think it is a failure.

What would you do to change it?

please explain why you think its a failure so I can address those issues...

Well the immoral solution that would solve it but probably would be wrong would be to kill anyone serving a life sentence.

And decriminalizing marijuana would also help reduce the prison population. Because essentially having government regulation is better then strict government oversight of it being illegal.

Also if you put prisons in the hands of private ownership and turn it into a market, it could create competition and could take a burden off the government of having to pay for all the inmates. Government would just possibly regulate rules and investigate to determine if prisons are kept well.

Corruption is another big thing. Some high profile criminals can pay guards/wardens off to let them still run their illegal businesses while inside.

This post was edited by sir_lance_bb on Mar 10 2010 12:45pm

It's better than it is here probably (Holland). For a homicide you get 5-10 years, and the maximum prison time is about 20 years.

Waaay too soft i think.

Well off the top of my head, the # of people in prison since the early 1980s is what... 8-10 times more now, but the rate of crime is nearly the same.

What is crime?

The Drug War had a big launch since the 80s, and possession/transfer/cultivating of drugs is a crime as well. In that effect, they both have grown steady.

Other than that, our Justice system has been a pretty big success, other than some very fixable loopholes. As for innocent convictions and guilty releases, that will happen with any system.

This post was edited by Bannister19 on Mar 10 2010 03:37pm

Forced labor will fix the problem and help the people that actually follow the rules.

More jails like Maricopa County with Sheriff Joe

I think it's a failure as well.

We need to focus more on rehabilitation instead of letting prisons become cesspools and crime training academies.

Reduce the amount of poeople in prison due to the possession and/or distribution of marijuana.

This post was edited by kamahl19 on Mar 10 2010 04:29pm