Shutting down prisons for lack of inmates?

[longknife]

Hunh? What on earth is going on?

The Swedish government has shut down four of its prison facilities as well as a remand (detention) center in response to a plunging number of inmates. According to a report in the British newspaper the Guardian, the number of prisoners in Swedish jails dropped by 6 percent in each of 2011 and 2012 --- with a similar reduction in headcount expected both this year and next. Overall, since 2004, the prison population has fallen by about 1 percent annually – rendering excess beds and cell-space unnecessary.

Read more @ Sweden Closing Prisons as Inmate Numbers Drop - Nation sees a steep 6% reduction

There's more to this than it seems. The article states that drug-related crimes are up but the perpetrators aren't being sent to prison. Wonder what the figures would be in the USA if the same thing happened.

 

[JakeStarkey]

Our prison population would fall by 45% in ten years.