NO EASY ANSWERS: INCARCERATION RATE LIKELY TO KEEP EDGING UP

Imagine a Texas Rangers baseball game with 40,000 fans in the stands. Would
you be shocked to learn that about 290 of them might be headed to prison?

That's about the ratio at which this nation imprisons people. About 2.1
million people - one of every 138 Americans - were behind bars in mid-2004,
a statistic that stunned and sobered this editorial board.

Disturbingly, the numbers are likely to only get worse, according to the
U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics. In 1974, the lifetime chances of going
to prison were 1.9 percent. By 2001, they were 6.6 percent.

People wind up in prison for many reasons, the most obvious being that they
made poor choices and got caught. The solution, however, is far more
complicated. Just building new prisons and locking up offenders won't be
enough.

For instance, after unprecedented prison construction in the 1990s, many
Texas lawmakers now worry that state prisons are crowded with nonviolent
offenders, including some who would be better served in treatment or
probation programs.

Ultimate responsibility rests with the individual. Neighborhoods that have
produced thieves and rapists have also produced ministers and
schoolteachers. Still, aren't these numbers to some degree a reflection of
society's failure?

That's why we consistently advocate for better schools, for stronger
families and for stable communities. A college graduate who is able to
compete in the workforce and support a family is less likely to turn to
crime than someone who didn't finish high school. To borrow an analogy from
the health care industry, preventative steps often are less costly and more
effective than high-tech treatments and a medicine cabinet full of drugs.