POLITICS AND PRISON

"There's a pretty long list of people who deserve to be locked up
forever, but it's not the majority of people in prison."

Michael Lawlor, a former prosecutor and member of the Connecticut Legislature.

The Associated Press reports this week that there are 1.5 million
people incarcerated in state and federal jails, and that population
is expected to increase by 200,000 in the next five years. (Florida
will experience the biggest increase, of about 16,000 new inmates.)
Too much emphasis on politically popular "get tough" laws and not
enough on rehabilitation and alternative forms of punishment has
turned corrections into a booming industry in America. States will
spend $12.5 billion accommodating the new inmates. That's $12.5
billion that won't go into education, health care or new roads.

"Truth in sentencing, three strikes and you're out - it looks great
on paper, but try to make it work," Lawlor told the AP of America's
bulging prisons.