Yesterday, Governor Larry Hogan annouced that the Baltimore City Detention Center will be closed immediately. That was wonderful news, but the reason was somewhat depressing.
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/baltimore-city/bs-md-ci-hogan-jail-qa-20150730-story.html
The basic reason was the facility has been a cesspool for coruption, substandard penal practices, and an ancient and decrepit building. For a building that was built in the middle 1850's, while modern for its era, it was solely out of date for today. It should have been retired, decommissioned, and/or closed long ago. Unfortunately, the facility not only was continued in use, it was overcrowded to boot.
Instead of our society addressing the underlying issues that created the need for a jail of this size, we continued the fail practise of inadequate education, inefficient job preparation and training, discrimatory housing, and a system of public subsidies that created a class of people who were dependent versus being empowered. Layer upon this prescription for disaster was the wholesale importing, distributing, and selling of drugs to a population of people. It didn't help that the social fabric of intact families were at risk as well. The Baltimore City Detention Center sybolized every thing that is wrong in our society.
Wouldn't it have been wonderful if the reason for closing the facility had been it was no longer needed because violence had subsided, criminal activity had been replaced with productive actions; criminal lawyers were changing their careers to other areas because they were no longer needed, grand juries were disbanded, and respect, moral character, and dignity was the order of the day.
Wouldn't it be marvelous if we had successive record years of no murders, no robberies, no mischief; because we have learned to live as neighbors and become the model for the world as a harmonious society.We no longer needed the jail because people were no longer engaged in criminal activity.
The challenge of demolishing this facility, is that maybe in the not to distant future, there will be a call and a need to build a modern larger facility because the ever increasing patterns of crime will mandate the need.
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