No more special, Bert, than the jails in any other state.

The dollars are continually made available to build more prisons and jails rather than to consider other options for offenders. Investors get rich with contracts to build prisons or house prisoners, and they contribute to campaigns, so there is little incentive to fix the system. Is the convicted person dangerous to others? If not, then why put them in prison? Are they in prison because they couldn't get good legal representation? Many are. Why isn't the public defender program better funded? There are a lot of important questions to do with the U.S. justice system and the jails and prisons associated with it.

SRS