Corrections facilities incorrect

There is a glaring flaw in Jim Paget’s reasoning (Letters, Dec. 22). His “cause and effect” is highly unreasonable. Incarceration does not work. The high incarceration rate does not have anything to do with the decrease in violent crime. How come there is no melee in Montreal, or London, or other large cities in other industrial countries? They have much lower prison populations, plus lower crime rates.

The high incarceration rate is caused by our high rate of recidivism because of the lack of rehabilitation in our “correctional” facilities. It is caused by the lengthy prison sentences that are not always necessary. It is caused by our futile war on drugs. If the millions of dollars down the drain in that 40 years of effort were used for prevention of crime and treatment/education of the incarcerated, the effects would be astounding. In Mr. Paget’s world, we would lock everybody up, build a prison on every corner and then we would have no crime. It’s not where I want my tax dollars to go. How many people can we afford to incarcerate, especially since we have reached the point where we are no safer and it is no longer cost-effective?

Shirley White

Spokane