Like the rest of the country, Kentucky has a jail and prison overpopulation problem. Some states have it worse than others and, while Kentucky’s woes aren’t quite as bad as some, it’s nonetheless presenting a major challenge and stretching our resources thin.
Though Kentucky ended private prison contracts three years ago, we might once again be turning to these facilities to hold the surplus of prisoners that are filling our prisons and jails. These private prisons were both too expensive and saw far too many instances of inmates being subjected to abuse. The fact that we are again looking to private prisons as a solution is evidence that we are struggling for good solutions to fix this problem.
When we talk about overcrowded prisons, we’re actually talking about overcrowded jails, too. The two are closely related, and roughly one-third of our state’s prison population is being placed in county jails.
Our broken prison system is intertwined with our criminal justice system’s woes. Until we address the latter, we will continue to struggle with the former. There is certainly no perfect solution that will immediately address the overcrowding of Kentucky prisons, but there are steps that we can take to improve the lives of those who are suffering from the conditions in Kentucky jails and prisons.
- Give more opportunities to those who leave prison. When someone finishes their prison sentence, they have a hard time getting a job, getting a loan and finding a suitable place to live. This only serves to make them more likely to return to a life of crime. If you want proof that the way we treat ex-inmates is ineffective, you need only look at the recidivism rate in the United States – over 75 percent of those who leave prison will be rearrested within five years of their release.
- Ease the tight grip of mandatory minimums. Currently, those who face conviction for a number of crimes must serve a designated period of time in prison or jail. By putting more control in the hands of judges, we can make sure that there is more flexibility in our criminal justice system.
- Change our drug laws in order to treat drug addicts instead of punishing them. A significant portion of the prison population is comprised of drug offenders. A number of studies suggest that imprisonment doesn’t help reform drug addicts and that by imprisoning drug addicts and users, we are essentially putting them in a position where they are more likely to keep using drugs, which also makes them more likely to be imprisoned.
- Enact policies that include “violent” offenders. One very large piece of the puzzle is that we must change our perceptions of “violent” offenders. Many of the people who are labeled legally as violent offenders actually never hurt another person. Yet, the majority of lawmakers who propose reforms to address prison overpopulation exclude this subset of convicts from the conversation.
- Re-evaluate pre-trial detention use in our criminal justice system. A large number of those in jails (some estimates say well over half) haven’t actually been convicted of a crime. People who can’t afford bail are forced to wait for their trials, even for crimes that many would consider lesser offenses. We must revisit our detention process if we really want to address the overpopulation problem.
These reforms would benefit both our criminal justice and our prison systems, but many of them involve much more than policy changes. In many ways, our attitudes about convicts have to change. We cannot treat people who have been convicted of a crime as though are less than human. From an economic perspective, our current way of doing things is also not sustainable.
If you find you or a loved one charged with a crime contact our attorneys for help. Our lawyers specialize in helping defendants fight back on assault charges, misdemeanors, domestic violence, property crimes, drug charges and more, call today.