NCJ Number
82616
Journal
Corrections Magazine Volume: 7 Issue: 2 Dated: (April 1982) Pages: 18-34
Date Published
1982
Length
16 pages
Annotation
Overcrowding is a major problem in local jails nationwide. It has spurred an influx of inmate lawsuits against facilities.
Abstract
Federal court orders are pressuring municipal officials to reduce overcrowding. One article claims that 10 percent of the Nation's jails are under court orders; another source states that 1,300 local governments are either operating jails under court order or are likely to have to soon. Moreover, every year local governments spend over $529 million on jail construction and renovation. More than 370 projects are underway. Each cell costs around $50,000. Jail overcrowding results from higher crime and arrest rates, the absence of formal pretrial release programs for the accused and alternatives to incarceration for the convicted in small and suburban counties, and recent judicial decisions that reflect a more conservative sentencing stand. Hundreds of lawsuits have been filed challenging local jail conditions over the past 5 years. Court orders and the enforcement of State jail standards have been particularly effective at reducing jail overcrowding and improving jail conditions. State subsidies for jail construction are also being used. Recent jail overcrowding projects, such as LEAA's Jail Overcrowding Program, are discussed. Overcrowding in New Jersey and Colorado jails is considered, as is New York's program to relieve overcrowding through community employment and victim restitution, an initiative started by Doug Call, Sheriff.