Lo and Behold...

Unto three, verily twas so... etc. After years of ramping up prison sentences, inventing new crimes and legal categories (such as the insidious ASBO), the prison population has spiralled (info here) to over 80,000. The system now runs at almost full capacity. Don't forget that, in most countries at most times, about as many people are heading into prison and about as many people are on parole as the incarerated population.

The equivalent of a county town now passes through the prison system every year in Britain. This is a slow-burning disaster in the making. It's almost made now:

The risk of violence and disturbances in jails in England and Wales is a "growing concern", the Chief Inspector of Prisons has warned.

In her annual report, Dame Anne Owers said the system was still under "sustained and chronic" pressure.

She said the tension was often caused by inmates on longer sentences who may feel they have "little to lose

An incredible statistic:

One in seven prisoners is on either a life or indeterminate sentence...

Also:

Surveys revealed alcohol abuse in some prisons had quadrupled, and prisons were responding "inadequately" to the problem, the report found.

Incredible, deadly problems are being stored up. It may be out of our way, but it won't stay like that unless action is taken to (1) drastically reduce the prison population and (2) change the regime inside from top to bottom.