Getting "tough on crime" through punishment never made much sense to me. On one hand, it is questionable whether penalties get to the root cause of crime; on the other hand someone has to pay for all those jails.

In percentage terms, the USA has the most people in jail of any other nation on Earth. (Most are minorities serving non-violent sentences for drugs.) Since we cant seem to afford public schools anymore, it was only a matter of time before we couldn't afford jails. Eventually the costs of jails will get so high, we will have to question some of our laws. That hasnt happened yet but these articles show that problem is growing.

With Jails Bulging,
Some Sheriffs Let
Inmates Go Early

State Budgets Fail to Keep Up As Sentences Get Tougher; A Stripper's Ticket Home Whooping in the Parking Lot

By GARY FIELDS Staff Reporter of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL

December 5, 2005

BEND, Ore. -- Ben Peles was lying on a bunk in a two-man cell at the Deschutes County Jail here when the intercom squawked his name. Sheriff's deputies told him to roll up his stuff and prepare to leave.

Mr. Peles, a 26-year-old air-conditioner installer, was taken aback. He had landed in jail only 10 hours earlier to start serving a two-week sentence for possession of methamphetamine and theft. Shivering in a sweatshirt in the November night air -- it had been warm and sunny when he walked in at 10:30 a.m. -- he couldn't believe his luck. "I've never heard of them releasing anybody this quick," he said, waiting outside the jail for his girlfriend to pick him up.

Mr. Peles's unexpected freedom walk is becoming a regular ritual at jails and prisons in Oregon and at least half a dozen other states. These states have long grappled with overcrowding by trying to find money for new facilities and stuffing more prisoners into existing cells. More recently, some have turned to a last-ditch solution: opening the doors and letting inmates go.

Bulging Jails and Tight Budgets
Make Job of Guard Even Tougher

In Oklahoma, the 2000 Killing Of a Young Officer Lingers; Staff Positions Go Unfilled; 'I'm Going to Cut Your Throat'

By GARY FIELDS Staff Reporter of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL

November 2, 2005

GRANITE, Okla. -- In the cavernous dining hall of the Oklahoma State Reformatory, a corrections officer zigzagged among tables, checking for problems. His partner watched the serving line, his head swiveling back and forth as if watching a tennis match. A cadet officer stood at the entrance. By the time all the men straggled in for ham sandwiches and pound cake -- to be eaten with plastic utensils -- there were 120 prisoners in the dining facility. Their arms were covered by tattoos of dragons, devils and rival gang symbols.

If trouble erupted, the cadet by the door wouldn't have been much help to her colleagues. Not yet trained, she was under instructions not to intervene but to run outside and get help.

Two months earlier in July, there had been a racially inspired melee at the maximum-security prison. When the fight started, there was a lone guard caught in the middle. The prison has 100 officers watching over 1,059 inmates, one in nine of whom has killed someone.

The job of prison guard, which has always been perilous, is growing harder. Because of tougher sentencing laws and budget constraints, the number of inmates in the U.S. is growing rapidly, far outpacing the hiring of prison officers. The number of federal and state prisoners nationwide hit 1.5 million last year, up 51% compared with 1995. The number of prison officers increased 8% during the same period, to 239,079.