PRISON OVERPOPULATION AND STRATEGIES FOR DECARCERATION

In this article, the author demonstrates the importance of the duratio n of the stay in prison in relation to the prison count, and shows tha t displacement (such as alternative community measures) is not enough if the objective is to control or reduce prison populations. In the au thor's view, penal reforms and the development of community measures s hould be carried out in the name of justice, humanity, and moderation in the penal law, even though they would have little or no affect on p rison populations (count). Furthermore, purely ''economic'' reasons ar e not always appropriate for defending community measures or alternati ves to incarceration. This manner of arguing is sometimes false and ca n soon prove dangerous.