The over reliance on incarceration has resulted in the highest prison rate this nation has ever seen, destroyed millions of families and ruined countless communities.

Billions of dollars are spent each year on corrections--dollars, which are not available for improving our education system, providing health care for all people or ensuring a safe, clean environment.

Prisons have become repositories for the mentally ill and in fact, house three times as many mentally ill people as the nation's mental hospitals. Correctional facilities are ill equipped to deal with the special challenges of the care and treatment of people with mental disorders.

90 percent of incarcerated men and women will be returning to their communities; many have been exposed to infectious diseases such as Hepatitis C, AIDS/HIV, TB, and bacterial infections.
Despite a recidivism rate of 67 percent, legislation passed each year further stigmatizes people who have a criminal record, yet are trying to become productive citizens again.

Information found on The Pennsylvania Prison Society's web page found at http://www.prisonsociety.org/index.shtml