US prison system 'costly failure'

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7102054.stm

19 November 2007

The prison population has risen eight-fold since 1970, with little impact on crime but at great cost to the taxpayer, researchers say. The Unlocking America report, which was published on Monday, also advocated changing terms of parole and finding alternatives to prison as part of a major overhaul of the US justice system. Its recommendations run counter to the Bush administration's policy of longer, harsher sentences, which the government says has contributed to falling violent crime and murder figures.

There are more than 1.5 million people in US state and federal jails. The JFA researchers found that women represented the fastest-growing sector of the US prison population.

Prison System a Costly and Harmful Failure: Report

http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2007/11/19/5330/

November 19, 2007

The report was produced by the JFA Institute, a Washington criminal-justice research group, and its authors included eight criminologists from major U.S. public universities. It was funded by the Rosenbaum Foundation and financier George Soros’s Open Society Institute. Its recommendations run counter to broad U.S. public support for getting tough on criminals through longer, harsher sentences and to the Bush administration’s anti-drug stance.

Overview of the Prison Industry