Prison relief

In the pantheon of ‘marginally morally sound ideas; realistically not good ones’, comes this from Kenya:

allAfrica.com: Plan to Free Inmates Living With HIV/Aids

Said to be so that they can “have quality life with their families instead of being left to die in prison”, it may in fact be an ill-conceived plan for reducing inmate numbers in congested prisons.

Congestion which is, according to Kenya’s Vice-President, “encouraging immoral behaviour amongst inmates”.

Kenya’s Council of Imams thinks it’s a bad idea because prisoners will return to criminal activity with no fear of imprisonment.

And a brief editorial in The Nation makes a good point: will the prisoners being released to their families be checked to make sure they actually have families to go to?