TOO MANY PRISONERS

We have too many prisoners in our country.It only proves that we as a society have failed to train and educate our youth to be responsible citizens or our laws are out of sync and have chosen to use a more expensive option of incarcerating citizens than taking care of root causes of crime.That is poverty,lack of education,lack of mental health care and poor parenting skills.
Most cities and states spend more on prison system than on education that is shame.
Taking care of youth so they do not end up in prisons is similar to teaching sex education to prevent unwanted pregnancies and sexually transmitted diseases.
Even arguments are similar one side for birth control and other side for abstinence.One side for taking care needs of our youth other side for mandatory long term imprisonment for minor and drug use related crimes.One side for help for adoption of unwanted kids other side for providing help to mothers and families who do not have resources to take care of them.
IT IS TIME FOR PARADIGM SHIFT .
MORE PRISONS ARE NOT THE ANSWER.
Small states like Rhode Island can under take experiments to reduce prison population .Starting point can be spending 5 percent of the money spent on prisons will be spent to reduce prison population.Other problem is that prisons are an entrenched system with its own constituency and associate infrastructures and unions and affiliates of brotherhood like firemen and Police men,national guard and sheriffs departments and military reserve .Taking on such a large part of the public sector is also a large political challenge to any future leadership.