TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -- Florida's recent decision to shut down 11 prison facilities this year flew in the face of long-held assumptions that prison population was on the rise.
But criminologists say Florida is following a national trend. Lawmakers in the late 1980s and early 1990s expected a dramatic rise in crime and started building prison space.
The increase in inmates didn't come. Policymakers also started to be more open to things like house arrest for nonviolent offenders. Now Florida has more prison space than it has prisoners to fill them.
Hanging in the balance is the fate of 1,300 corrections officers and other prison employees. Prison officials have promised they'll try to transfer many of them but have offered no guarantees.
Associated Press