What would be a good way to lighten the prison load?

There are so many people in prison now a days. Any ideas on how to keep so many people from going in?
Answers:
"Good" makes it hard to answer. You can keep people from going to jail by changing the punishment for crime. Say restitution instead of jail time for stealing. You can make actions currently illegal legal, buying, selling, and using drugs (this would have to include void current prescription rules as well). You can expand and streamline the death penalty. If you kill someone, no matter how, you are executed within 30 days of conviction.

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Take the healthy one's, give them an orange jump suit with an American flag on the side and a good parachute. Drop them out over the border of Afghanistan and Pakistan and let them know if they catch bin laden thet get a full pardon. Good luck!
Ok seriously; we should build huge prisons on the Iraqi %26#92; Iranian border. They could double as bases and interefere with the Iranian flow of weapons and such into Iraq, give the Iraqi's good jobs, and they could stack our prisoners up and take pictures of them for newsweek whenever they wanted.

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Decriminalize drugs. People shouldn't go to jail for possessing, selling, or smoking pot. Putting pot smokers in an environment with murderers creates violent criminals out of those who otherwise would not be. It takes citizens away from families that need them. The war on drugs is a sham and does more harm than good.

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Release non-violent minor drug offenders.

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Bring back the 2 parent family unit and get rid of the current 1 mother ,5 kids(by 4 dads) and the gubberment unit.

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With 28% of the population of the prison system Illegal aliens, perhaps we should send them back home.

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Frankly, I think rapists, murderers and child molesters should be hung or shot and save the time and money to house them for people who can be rehabilitated. Then those who are in need rehabilitation before getting out and have a job before getting out so they have a chance to survive without the crime. You can't put them in, forget about them and them expect them to know how to act when they get out with $50 in thier pockets. I have never been in prison but worked in one and had a friend go to prison for something menial. He was never given counseling or anything while in there and when he left they gave him $50 and said, "good luck." How is someone sposed to start over with $50? He had no family so I took him in for 6 months and gave him a chance. He's doing good now.
I think people would think before acting if there was corporal punishment.

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Legalise crime ! Simple but effective. I think in some parts of the UK they are already doing this its just that they havent told anyone !!!

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The only answer I can see is sending them all to the military except the killers should do hard labor 5 days a week.

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Could institute something like caning. A few good swats might do more good than a couple of years in jail anyway.

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kill everyone on death row, cut off the fingers of theives and cane/whip the rest based on severity

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People need to understand that in order for good to exist, so does bad. I believe prison only reinforce's their conviction. They learn new skills and have to live by a law reminiscent of medieval times. Everything that is by societies definition as bad, has an equal part in society. Jails have upset the balance of life and death. Now the world is overpopulated and dying. Maybe people should rely and develop their own self defence and protection. Instead they pay taxes so an incompetent governing system can do it for them. Trust in your own abilities and rights people, protect what is yours.
All things have to die - will you meet yours on your knee's asking for help?

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There are probably more than you would want to know about that are illegal and legal aliens.
When I was working for the state park system we would use prisoners that are part of a work release program. These programs are run by state and county detention centers. Most of the prisoners we got on our work crews spoke Spanish and some English. Many though could not speak any English at all.
The other day I was reading in the local paper about someone that was in our area trying to recruit volunteers to visit prisoners in the Federal Prisons because many that were in there didn't have anyone on the out side that could visit them. POOR BABIES.
The thing that got me was that one of the requirements was that you had to speak Spanish in order to participate in the program.
So you want to know how to lighten the prison population? Start sending criminals back to their own country. Deport those that shouldn't be here. Why the hell are our tax dollars paying to feed and clothe people that shouldn't never have been entered into the penal detention system to begin with?