French prison overcrowding reaches new record high

In May, the Council of Europe, the continent's leading human rights watchdog, said France and Turkey had the most overcrowded prisons in Europe.(AFP) — France’s prison population broke another record last month, nearing 90,000 inmates as overcrowding reached an all-time high, Justice Ministry data showed Tuesday.Jails held 89,668 inmates on Aug. 1 despite having capacity for only about 63,300 in a country of 69 million people.That brought the occupancy rate to a record 141.6%, up from 136.9% in February, itself a record at the time.Overcrowding forced 7,956 detainees to sleep on mattresses on the floor, up 43.5% from the same time last year.In detention centers for people awaiting trial or serving shorter sentences, the occupancy rate stood at 175%.In May, the Council of Europe, the continent’s leading human rights watchdog, said France and Turkey had the most overcrowded prisons in Europe.U.N. experts on torture prevention, following a visit that same month, urged France to tackle “serious” prison overcrowding, saying conditions violated detainees’ rights and could amount to “inhumane or degrading” treatment.In early January, Justice Minister Gerald Darmanin said he wanted to tackle overcrowding by building more prisons.His ministry plans to create 3,000 additional prison places in modular facilities, half of which are due to be operational by 2027.But under a separate plan launched in 2018, fewer than a third of 15,000 planned prison places have been delivered.Subscribe to our free newslettersOur weekly newsletter Closing Arguments offers the latest about ongoing trials, major litigation and rulings in courthouses around the U.S. and the world, while the monthly Under the Lights dishes the legal dirt from Hollywood, sports, Big Tech and the arts.Additional Reads