Prison Overcrowding Story by Ted Koppel

I just finished watching a story by Ted Koppel about prison overcrowding. I am not sure what channel it was on, but it was recorded by my DVR about 2 weeks ago, so I finally sat down to watch it. This country is really in some major trouble. The story was in California and they have the 3 strikes law in FULL affect. You do 3 crimes you are in prison for 25 to life, no questions asked. Since that law has gone into affect, the prison population has climbed almost 3x.

"Prison warehouses", as they are called, are just that warehouses with bunks for inmates. Now, don't get me wrong, they get what they deserve, but the one thing that bothered me the most was that when a inmate gets out of prison, he goes back to the SAME city or town where he was before he went in.

No big deal right? Wrong, why do you think there are so many inmates that have been in prison more than 1 or 2 times? The "demons" are waiting for them when they get back! Another thing that was sort of troubling was the fact that some inmates don't have any opportunity to better themselves, because the state is cutting back on everything they need to get an education in prison, if they choose to go that route.

I know they should have thought about the before they committed crimes, but the country is really in a tight spot. I will never say to let them out, it's overcrowded, but I think the 3 strikes law should have been more detailed. Not, you got caught stealing a pack of smokes 3 times? You get life. What sense does that make. And if you thought segregation was bad in the city you live in? Think about prison. That is the most segregated place on earth, any prison. The whites with the whites, blacks with the blacks and so forth. The prison officials do this "to keep it safer for everyone involved in the prison system".

Isn't that a farce? They promote segregation, so that when the African American or white American gets out after 10 years of segregation, that is all he is used to? Where does the most recent rise in racial tension come from? Prisons. Without a doubt.

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