Netherlands runs out of criminals, has to shut prisons - Boing Boing
Technorati Tags: prison, law, crime, netherlands, holland, criminalsThe Netherlands (where cannabis is legal) has so few criminals that it is now faced with the choice of shutting down its prisons and laying off the staff, or importing criminals from other countries like Belgium on a contract basis:
During the 1990s the Netherlands faced a shortage of prison cells, but a decline in crime has since led to overcapacity in the prison system. The country now has capacity for 14,000 prisoners but only 12,000 detainees.
Deputy justice minister Nebahat Albayrak announced on Tuesday that eight prisons will be closed, resulting in the loss of 1,200 jobs. Natural redundancy and other measures should prevent any forced lay-offs, the minister said.
The Netherlands' situation should show Americans that it is very dangerous to put so much dependence on policies that create so many new criminals that we have to build a new prison every week to hold them all.
ReplyDeleteUnless we continue to support bad policies like prohibition, our prisons will empty and thousands of jobless prison workers with no backup training will be in the job market.
Now policy makers are trying to quietly create a new caste of criminals by creating a black market in tobacco. It's another prohibition without naming it - another way to fill up the prisons and keep building more.
Why do we stand for leaders using policies that have a long history of costly failure?
I just don't understand.