The United States is experiencing a criminal justice crisis. With the highest incarceration rate in the world, we have run out of places to house prisoners.

 

Prisons are filled to overflowing. Some house twice as many prisoners than they were designed for. The courts continue to sentence offenders, exacerbating an already dire situation.

 

Skyrocketing costs to house all these prisoners affects everyone. States must spend more of their budgets each year on prison facilities and staffing, leaving less for addressing other social issues and necessary infrastructure maintenance and improvements. Roads, education, and other services society needs to function get shortchanged.

 

There’s another aspect to our penchant for imprisonment.

 

Few prisoners spend their lives in prison. Most of those we incarcerate are released back into society at some point. Nearly three quarters of a million ex-offenders try their luck at returning to their local communities each year. About two thirds don’t make it, and end up back in prison within three years. Those that do make it do so with a combination of luck, determination, and support services provided by their local communities.