Nevada explores “solutions” to prison overcrowding

Thanks to this post at Think Outside the Cage, I see that Nevada is thinking about taking the release approach to dealing with its prison overcrowding problems.  This local article provides some details:

About 1,600 inmates would qualify to be released from Nevada prisons if lawmakers approve a bill that doubles the time credits inmates receive for good behavior, a prison spokesman said Tuesday.  And, the sentences for about 2,000 other inmates on parole would expire under the measure, designed to offer some relief to the state’s crowded prisons, said Fritz Scholtman, spokesman for the Department of Corrections….

Lawmakers are grappling with a prison system that is over-budget and faces inmate population projections that demand billions of dollars in new prison construction unless new policies are developed or laws are changed…. “We are currently over our emergency capacity,” [Corrections Department head Howard] Skolnik said.  The department has added beds across the state, but the numbers continue to rise, he said.