A Reuters news story about Venezuela’s recent decision to free more than 2,000 prisoners to curb violent behavior in overcrowded prisons quoted David Smilde, an associate professor of sociology in the Franklin College of Arts and Sciences.
“That’s something that’s happened over the past couple of years and they have done that basically because of all the pressure about the crime problem, and so it’s really made this prison system deteriorate even further,” said Smilde, who is also a Venezuela expert. “What they should be doing, and what they have done in the past. . . is review these cases to see which are even relevant anymore.”
