Warehouses for People?

The impact of congested prisons is not primarily a problem of population density, but of corollaries of crowding such as social instability, lack of programming, and the ascendance of custody goals. Congestion affects staff as well as inmates, and different inmates are differently affected. Some have antisocial tendencies exacerbated; others suffer from mental health problems. Staff subserve custody goals, but subserve them less effectively because social control mechanisms—such as programming and classification—are impaired by crowding. A recent prison riot points to transience and idleness as key preconditions and shows the results of congestion in escalating sequences that prominently include crisis management. The most serious consequence of crowding is warehousing, which creates a prison climate that prevents inmates from serving time in customary ways. It remains to be determined whether this result constitutes disproportionate—hence unlawful—punishment.