My Opinion: #1 -We need to nationally mandate an at least 50% cut in the number of appeals that a convicted felon gets. This would (upfront) save the tax payers lots of $$$ and help with the courts congestion problem. #2 – We need to nationally mandate a 3 strike policy (like California has for any crimes) for any criminal convicted of a violent offense (Not necessarily all 3 crimes must be of violent nature – just 1) #3 – We need to nationally mandate a 2 strike policy for anyone convicted as a sexual predator (Level 2 & 3). The 2nd strike can be failing to register or not following your rehabilitation/probation policies.
** After the 3rd strike or the 2nd strike (for sexual offenders) these people will be locked up for life w/out chance of parole or means of rehabilitation. The current maximum security prisons will be used to house these inmates only (in solitary confinement if necessary) where the tax payer $$$ spent will only go to security and food for the inmates; no other luxuries.
Then you take the people who commit lesser crimes and you can put them in the minimum security prisons where you would spend the money to rehabilitate them. Part of that would be to learn a trade, get an education, learn to read and do basic math (all of these would need to be requirements met before they could be released).
** NOTE ** There are 2 types of criminals – ones who commit them b/c of life circumstance (you are in poverty, poor education, etc so you rob, you steal, your hussel because you feel that is what you HAVE to do to survive). And then there are people with mental issues (chemical imbalances, bi-polar, etc who kill, rape, murder because the do not have the mental capacity to either not do it or to not know it is wrong). ***
These people who commit crimes for pleasure, mental instability are are ones who cannot be rehabilitated and are the ones that we see repeat crimes over and over again. If once they have proven that they cannot be rehabilitated, treated by taking medicine (and can prove that they will do so on their own once released) and they then commit a 3rd crime of violent or sexual nature, they will then be put away for life where society will not have to watch them re-commit5, 6, 7 times – draining the tax payers money & hurting more people.
The problem occurs when we mix these types with the other criminals who don’t commit crimes for the same reason and in prison learn these attributes from the others. So now a person who was once able to be rehabilitated, cannot be done so b/c he or she has learned a whole new life inside prison walls; and that is to cheat, kill, do whatever to survive in there and they do it for so long, that it becomes part of their life and mind (which leads to more crime once released).

Set the two crime doers apart- rehabilitate the ones you can and the ones who have shown they cannot and do not deserve a 2nd & 3rd chance should NOT be allowed a 4th – ever.