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Okla. prisons struggle to be tough, cheap

By Real Cost of Prisons Project (The Sentencing Project)

Okla. prisons struggle to be tough, cheap 05/10/10 SEAN MURPHY, Associated Press Writer Alva Review/Courier OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) ? Facing severe budget problems, Oklahoma is one of many states trying to cut its spending on corrections. But Oklahoma legislators also have another priority: they want add more crimes to the statute books and lengthen sentences for others. The imperative to be both cheaper and tougher is bearing down on prisons in a state with the nation's fourth highest incarceration rate. "We're primed for something major," prisons director Justin Jones warned lawmakers recently, saying the prisons are full and 1,500 convicts are waiting in county jails to be transferred in. With wardens now filling exercise rooms and dining halls with inmate beds, "If there is a recipe for disaster, we have all the ingredients cooking right now...continue to full post

Full post as published by The Real Cost of Prisons Weblog on May 11, 2010 (boomark / email).