Overcrowded jails

Filling prisons beyond capacity can be avoided

It's not surprising that more than two dozen inmates of the Spartanburg County Detention Facility became restless last Saturday, causing a disturbance that added inciting a riot charges to their other troubles with the law.

Dinner wasn't being served fast enough, so they threatened a guard and vandalized the place. It took a SWAT team to help calm the situation.

Why should we not be surprised? The inmates, many jailed on nonviolent charges, have been placed in a situation ripe for such disturbances.

Overcrowding, as the jail's director, Larry Powers, pointed out, was a contributing factor - not the first time overcrowding has been blamed for prisoner unrest.

The cluster of cells where the disturbance took place was designed to house a maximum of 88 people. On that Saturday, the count was 166 inmates. The county's detention facilities were designed to house a maximum of 586 inmates, but a recent count topped 1,000. That means prisoners are having to sleep on mattresses on the floor, and waits for meals are longer when the ideal number of inmates is exceeded.

Spartanburg County's jail overcrowding problem was compounded earlier this year when the state's director of prisons limited the number of prisoners counties may transfer to state custody. Lawmakers responded with more money to ease the situation, but the county jail continues to house inmates who are the responsibility of the state.

Build more prisons, some say, but citizens have said no to tax increases to pay for them. And while lawmakers are content with longer prison sentences, they don't want to spend money on new jails.

But we either build more jails or send fewer people to prison. Doing nothing will only make our jails more dangerous.

Lawmakers have tried to appear tough on crime by lengthening prison sentences, but it's time for them to re-examine sentences for nonviolent offenses, including drug violations.

Alternatives such as house arrest and drug courts should be offered to more nonviolent offenders, reserving prison space for violent criminals.

Continuing to fill our prisons beyond capacity when it isn't necessary punishes everyone.