Huffington Post UK www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/...criminals-_n_3503721.html
As prison populations surge in the UK, with overcrowded cells and repeat offenders, the opposite is happening in the Netherlands.
The country is actually to close eight prisons because of a lack of criminals, the Dutch justice ministry has announced.
Declining crime rates in the Netherlands mean that although the country has the capacity for 14,000 prisoners, there are only 12,000 detainees, reported the nrc.nl.
The decrease is expected to continue, the ministry said, with Deputy justice minister Nebahat Albayrak saying that natural redundancy and other measures should counter any forced lay-offs.
A report last year on prison overcrowding said that surging populations undermined the rehabilitation of prisoners and risked increasing reoffending in the future.
The Criminal Justice Alliance (CJA), which represents more than 60 organisations, called for the government to urgently limit "the unnecessary use of prison, ensuring it is reserved for serious, persistent and violent offenders for whom no alternative sanction is appropriate".
It came after Chief Inspector of Prisons Nick Hardwick said the rising pressure on prisons from budget cuts and increasing numbers cannot go on indefinitely.
Comments{
In 2001 Portugal went even further towards legalizing drugs -- and the results have been very positive. It's a widely popular policy today, with few still objecting. None of the nightmare scenarios predicted acually occurred. www.cato.org/publications...-successful-drug-policies RichardRider
In CA, we evolving into three classes of people: 1. Criminals (a broadly-defined category, to put it kindly -- thanks in large part to the 2nd group). 2. The criminal justice industry -- especially police and prison guards. 3. Taxpayers paying for 1 and 2. RichardRider: www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/..._n_3503721_284659008.html
When prostitution and the most popular drug in the world is mostly legal to the point there are no turf wars there is a lot less crime and violence. claygooding: www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/..._n_3503721_284565960.html
Poster Comment:
Emergence of civilized societies on Planet Earth.