"Another Byproduct of the Recession: A Flood of Ex-Convicts"

I found this article on Time Magazine's website. In New York, the corrections department is the largest agency. They employ more than 31,000 people. That's just in the state of New York. Because of the recession, the government is going to have to let some of these employees go. Not only will they have to let go of some employees, but also some inmates. Since there won't be enough employees to watch over the inmates, it only makes sense to let some of them go too. The plan is to let about 700,000 every year so by 2012 one third of inmates will be released from all of prisons.

So what does that mean for our communities? Will they be safe? Are all of the ex-cons rehabilitated? If they aren't, then our communities will not be safe. They could be letting murderers, pedophiles, and thieves run free. What if these are rehabilitated ex-cons? If they are, what are they going to do for work? It's already hard to get a job, and I don't know from experience or anything, but I do here that it's harder to get a job when you have a record.

For our communities, I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a little scared. I grew up in a bad community and I know what it is like living with people like that running free (not because they were let go, because they were never caught). I feel like you shouldn't have to live in fear. Also, I feel sorry for those who are rehabilitated. They are being released into a country where the unemployment rate is 8.1% and growing. They really want to do the right thing this time, and might find themselves drug dealing again just to make it. It's really sad. But what is the government to do if they can't afford to keep them?