Prisons Stretched to the Breaking Point

Prisons in Crisis

          The issues facing the Idaho Department of Correction are easy to identify — a rising prison population fueled by mandatory minimum sentencing laws, exacerbated by a lack of mental health services and a budget stretched to the breaking point. The solutions are harder to pin down.

           Corrections has never been a popular expense. Taxpayers would rather fund schools than prisons, yet the demand for mandatory minimum sentencing means more inmates are crowding into tighter spaces for longer periods of time. Adding beds to existing spaces, or even adding temporary housing such as tents, is only a temporary band-aid. It does nothing to address the added strain on support facilities such as kitchens, showers, recreation areas or libraries. How long can you keep cramming more bodies into a finite space?

www.CartoonStock.com

          The increase in the female offender population adds to the problem, since women are housed separate from men. The small facility once considered adequate is no longer large enough to house the number of women being convicted on drug and other charges.

          The result is that Idahoans are at a crossroads. Laws designed to remove criminals from the streets may provide a temporary feeling of security, but they don’t address the more pressing issues of incarceration and rehabilitation. Until the Department of Correction receives adequate funding, these issues will continue to erode the department’s ability to rehabilitate offenders and provide the security Idahoans want.

Your views on these issues are welcome. Please address comments to kcraven@boisestate.edu. Be sure Idaho Issues Online appears in the
subject line.