Crowded Jails Becoming Health Hazards
Mentally ill offenders and nonviolent criminals are crowding local jails to the point that the facilities could become health hazards and counties are struggling with the cost of housing and caring for the burgeoning population.
The Texas Criminal Justice Coalition, or TCJC, spent eight months reviewing all 245 county jails for a report that details why local lockups are overflowing with inmates and what policymakers can do to stem the tide. “Being smart on crime and passing policies that really focus on people who are a true danger to society is going to save everyone financially,” says Ana Yañez-Correa ...
Comments (1)
jpt51
Thank you Ronald Reagan for closing mental institutions and dumping the mentally ill, those most in need of help, onto the streets. What’s happened since was inevitable because Reagan knew local and state government entities would be ill equipped to handle the onslaught. We have gone back to the days of treating the mentally ill as criminals. Who would have thought thirty years ago that society’s attitude would regress so far? We will be judged by how we treat the least among us.