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Illinois prisons bursting following end of early release program

By Douglas A. Berman

I just came across this notable recent piece from the Chicago Tribune, which is headlined "Illinois prison population surges to record high: Backlash over Quinn's early-release program plays role." Here is how it begins: Hard time has gotten even harder in Illinois prisons.  The state's prison system is bursting at the seams with a record high of nearly 49,000 inmates, some 3,000 more than just a year ago.  The surge, combined with the state's multibillion-dollar budget crisis, has led to conditions that watchdog groups and veteran correctional officers say they haven't seen since a population crisis in the 1980s prompted the state to build three new prisons. Confronted with putting more offenders in the same amount of space, administrators are doubling up every available cell...continue to full post

Full post as published by Sentencing Law and Policy on November 24, 2010 (boomark / email).