In a trend that marks an even deeper problem than the 70% failure rate from the back-end of the criminal justice system—the percentage returning to prison within three years after release—jurisdictions are now releasing criminals early prior to prison; a front-end strategy which will surely increase the back-end rate.
As the numbers compound and grow the criminal world at an even faster rate than present, the corresponding culture of the criminal world deepens its penetration into the public culture, further shaping the social markers that glorify and glamorize the attraction to criminality; broadening the pull of more and more individuals and social structures into its embrace.
The early release figures are fairly substantial, even in only one state, as reported in this article.
An excerpt.
“In Yolo County, if it's a question of doing the jail time or paying the fine, they're taking the 30 days because they know they'll be free in three.
“In Sacramento, the jailers tell the cops to hold off on things like domestic violence sweeps until they know they'll have enough space to accommodate the spousal abusers.
“In Placer County, one of the top early-release jurisdictions in the state, more than 2,000 inmates skated out of jail last year before they served a collective total of 94 years of the time they owed.
“In El Dorado County, the jail space shortage is such that even a sentenced felon has a chance to hit the streets before his time is up.
“Everywhere you look in the Sacramento area and around the state, county jails are so full that sheriffs are being forced to let inmates out early or to adjust their policies so that they don't even try to hold their lowest-level miscreants.
“Last year in California, the 58 counties released 86,064 convicted inmates from jail before they had completed their sentences, according to California State Sheriffs Association data submitted to the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. The jails released another 103,859 local inmates before trial because they didn't have any room.”
Lampstand Foundation website, http://www.lampstandfoundation.org/
"The sinner is at the very heart of Christianity. Nobody is so competent as the sinner in matters of Christianity. Nobody, except the saint." Charles Peguy (1873-1914)
About
- David H. Lukenbill
- I am a California native, married, we have one daughter and live close to the American River with two cats and all the wild critters we can feed. I am a management consultant to nonprofit organizations and have an Associates of Arts degree in Administration of Justice from Sacramento City College, a Bachelor of Science degree in Organizational Behavior from the University of San Francisco and a Master of Public Administration degree, also from the University of San Francisco.