Quote:
Originally Posted by P/N  I don't believe it is a matter of the prison system being over employed so much as the system falling far short of it's purpose, which is to punish and rehabilitate, not have a better life inside the prison walls. |
I don't find your argument particularly convincing. You'd have to suggest that somehow the US stands out in terms of the ease of prison life. I doubt you will be able to achieve that.
The authors conclusions are useful:
Levitt (2004) pointed out that three-strikes legislation would ultimately become efficient as means of crime reduction only if “deterrence rather than incapacitation” mattered most in reducing societal crime. The evidence from California appears to suggest the opposite. In general, filling up prisons may reduce crime, but that reduction may depend on a continually increasing prison population. If true at a broader, societal level, this suggests that imprisonment cannot be a long-term solution to crime.
We have to consider something a tad more obvious: the conservatism in British/US policy, with politicians findings it convenient to use the prison system to kid the voter that they are "tough on crime and tough on the sources of crime", has led to policy error