Crowded dormitories and multiple occupancy of cells defeat…efforts by staff to engage in direct surveillance of prisoners. As a result, the maintenance of order and lawful behavior among prisoners is compromised, and the level of inmate and staff safety plummets.… The impact of crowding on the maintenance of physical facilities is horrendous and often beyond a system's budgetary ability to control. Broken toilets, compromised heating and ventilations systems, peeling paint, broken windows, mold-covered showers, generally filthy conditions, and other physical breakdowns contribute to tension, poor morale, and impaired self-image on the part of prisoners and staff.

In short, crowding at some difficult-to-define but ultimately evident point results in prisons that are inhumane, unsafe, idle, and hopeless — precisely the opposite of what conscientious prison administrators are attempting to accomplish. If state executives and legislators do not respond constructively to the deterioration of our prisons, and if federal courts cannot or will not resume their vigilant oversight of prison conditions, we can expect American prisons to become increasingly explosive. In the end, we shall have learned nothing from the tragedies of Attica, the Penitentiary of New Mexico, and other riots that have taken a horrendous toll on the lives and safety of inmates and correctional staff. Moreover, by permitting our prisons to deteriorate into their former barbarous state, we eliminate any chance that prisons will contribute to the rehabilitation of offenders and their successful re-entry into the free-world community. The rallying cry of the criminal justice system then will become billions for retribution but nothing for the long-term amelioration of crime and the reform of criminals.

Excerpted from a written statement submitted to the Commission