An Approach to the Allocation of Scarce Imprisonment Resources

Abstract

In response to the widespread problem of prison congestion, Connecticut's Corrections Commissioner, John Manson, has suggested that prison cells be allocated to judges so that they would assume some responsibility for keeping prison populations within capacity limits. We explore a number of the choices that must be made in implementing this proposal, including the questions of what units to allocate (e.g., cells or cell-years), to whom the allocation should go (courts, individual judges, or prosecutors), what rules for allocation would be proper and equitable, what procedures to follow when an allocation is depleted, how to manage spare cells for emergencies, and what research is needed to implement such a process. The Manson proposal forces a clear recognition of the need to deal with the problem of finite prison capacity, but the problems it raises warrant consideration of the Michigan "safety valve" or the Minnesota capacity-constrained sentencing guidelines for limiting prison congestion.