"Like many other states, Massachusetts has struggled to find room for its inmates, with the prison population more than tripling over the past two decades to well over 11,000. At a time when other financially strapped states are under federal court orders to free inmates to relieve overcrowding or trying alternatives to incarceration, criminologists and advocates say, the Patrick administration’s overhaul of the parole system seems likely to make prisons even more cramped.
Related: Mass. Needs Less Laws
“This will just make things worse in terms of overcrowding,’’ said Chester Britt, dean of the School of Criminology and Criminal Justice at Northeastern University. “It’s dangerous for other inmates and dangerous for the staff who works there. And the state’s not in a position where it will build new prisons.’’
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I guess it doesn't help when the state probation office is full of patronage.
Related: Massachusetts Justice: Plenty of Money For Prisons
Boston Globe Probation Office Visit
State Government On Probation
Slow Saturday Special: Boston Globe Probation Violation
Also see: Brother of killer gave robbery tips, prosecutor alleges
Patrick overhauls parole
Patrick proposes revamped parole laws
Key figure resigns in probation scandal
Mass. suspends release of inmates granted parole
Interim Mass. Probation leader is named
Boston Globe is on probation with me.