|
|
Article: Revamp drug-offender laws to ease state prison crowding.(COMMENTARY)
- Article from:
- Telegram & Gazette (Worcester, MA)
- Article date:
- October 18, 2007
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2007 Worcester Telegram & Gazette. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
|
Byline: Ronald Fraser
COLUMN: As I See It
Massachusetts' prison system is like an out-of-control carousel. In 2005, for example, 2,500 new inmates got on board just as 2,100 parolees stepped off and headed for home - up from 1,300 in 1980. Nowadays Massachusetts towns and cities are struggling to cope with the special services needed by new parolees returning home each year.
America's lock-'em-up drug laws are keeping this merry-go-round spinning faster and faster. Nationally, the portion of inmates leaving state prisons after serving time for nonviolent drug offenses has shot up from 11 percent in 1985 to 37 percent in 2005. Here is how this ...