“And not enough prisons”
Prisons are expensive and should only be used when no suitable alternative exists.
I have advocated for penalty time rooms (say 100 hours to be spent in one within the next 30 days) and for things like arm and leg penalty weights. Penalty time rooms allow people to keep jobs and eliminate the need to provide prison health care for participants.
I worked in uniform in NY State's prisons for 25 years. In the early 80's, I saw Gov. Mario Cuomo close multiple psych centers, and the mentally ill thrown on the street, only to show up in the prison system, which created an even bigger headache for staff. Andrew Cuomo closed a prison or two when he was first elected Governor. One of them had been a school for the mentally retarded before being turned into a prison. It's about 20 minutes from me. In March 2021, Cuomo and Hochul closed at least 6 prisons in the State, not to mention the fact that they released hundreds of convicts to the streets during Covid, none of which were made to complete their court-ordered sentences. And Hochul is closing at least six more prisons this year, tossing even more convicts onto the street in order to make room for those from the prisons she is closing. She is playing musical chairs with convicted felons, and roulette with the lives of innocent citizens. Prisons are being closed because criminals aren't being locked up anymore, so RAT-controlled states can give the illusion that crime is down. Crime isn't down. It's just being swept under the carpet and covered up. When I was in uniform, we always told the public to remember that not all the criminals are behind bars. That saying is even more relevant today.
As Richard Pryor said, “Thank God we got Penitentiaries!”