Prison Reform
The BBC reports that Nigeria is going to release approximately 25,000 prisoners to relieve overcrowding.
Before anyone jumps to the conclusion that Nigeria has become a liberal hot bed, they are going to release people who have been in pre-trial detention longer than the sentence their crime would have brought, and the people whose files have been lost.
The average wait for a trial is about ten years, and if you can’t make bail you sit in prison.
It’s a new criminal justice concept: “Do the time, then we’ll check to see if you did the crime.”
In the US we go one better: Bush declares you an “enemy combatant” and you are held for the rest of your life, whether you get a trial or not.
