Introduction

Abstract

The number of Americans in prison more than doubled in the 1980s, and continues to expand today. Some 740,000 Americans are in prisons, and another 200,000 are in county jails serving felony sentences (Beck, 1991; Cohen, 1991). Often the use of imprisonment has exceeded the capacity: According to 1990 Department of Justice statistics, 32 of the 50 states were imprisoning more offenders than their prisons were designed to hold. The federal system was 51 percent above designed capacity. Still, legislators face considerable public pressure to expand the use of imprisonment. According to public opinion polls, 84 percent of Americans felt the courts were too lenient with convicted offenders; only 3 percent felt the courts were too harsh. Identical figures were reported in 1977—460,000 prison cells ago (Flanagan & Maguire, 1990, pp. 160–161, 583).

springfield, massachusetts—When Hampden County ran out of jail space, Sheriff Michael J. Ashe, Jr. seized the local National Guard armory to handle the overflow. Nine months later, the state turned down his request for $450,000 to continue the operation, and the inmates were released.

albany, new york—At their graduation from the New York Correctional Academy, 154 rookie prison guards were informed that they would be laid off in six weeks. Due to the state’s budget deficit, almost 3,000 guards lost their jobs—even though the number of prisoners increased by 7 percent.

austin, texas—Despite a $4.8 billion deficit, the Texas State Senate voted to spend $1.1 billion more to build 30,000 new prison beds. A move to create additional alternatives to prison was dismissed as “a public relations disaster.” Meanwhile, fear of crime and sales of burglar alarms and guns rose sharply in Houston after the Hams County Sheriff released 150 inmates to relieve jail overcrowding.