What Should Oklahoma Do about its Crowded Prisons?

[mythociate]

Oklahoman prisons are over-crowded. Expanding with more privately-owned prisons is apparently a bad idea, but what else can be done about it (that doesn't involve the government's common practice of 'making money appear out of nowhere')?

[ancmetro]

    Relocate! Because some states have too many inmates. Go where there are more jobs and opportunities for a better life.

[mythociate]

    Relocate! Because some states have too many inmates. Go where there are more jobs and opportunities for a better life.

No, I'm asking for advice TO GIVE THE DEPARTMENT-OF-CORRECTIONS.... But yeah, maybe we could ship our prisoners off to some penal colony!

[Falconer02]

Legalize pot. Too many people are in the slammer for a harmless act. You'd probably free up a ton of space.

[jmccaskill]

Does ANYONE get sentenced to actual prison time for pot anymore? Seems that most places fine the perp and make them do 'community service stuff. Dealers are an entirely different matter and those that are convicted of dealing in ANY illegal substance BELONG in prison; be it moonshine to heroin or anything else, the law is the law.

[jford87]

I think that drugs in general should be decriminalized. We also need to make jail and prison more about rehabilitation and there need to be laws in place helping convicts that have served their debt to society get jobs. Texas prisons are ridiculously over crowded as well. So much of the problem lies in the fact that prisoners get out and they cannot get a job. How are they supposed to make money? They quickly realize that it's easier to just do illegal acts to make money than to find a decent paying job as an ex con.

[crisstar]

The Department of Corrections need to get to the root of the problems that lead people to a life a crime. You'll find a lot of the men in prison come from troubled backgrounds - drugs use, broken families, severe abuse and neglect.

It doesn't excuse them of their crimes but it tells you where and how their mindset is formed that leads them to a life a crime. Prisons solve a problem temporarily after the problem has already been created. The prison system needs to look at the things that contribute to people being incarcerated in the first place.

[king4cash]

It’s time to stop being stupid on crime and start being smart on it. Eliminating mandatory-minimums is a step in the right direction.