Scalfarotto: Ma perché non recuperiamo le persone prima che delinquano?

Yesterday in the Senate we were debating the bill on "home detention for the rehabilitation of drug- or alcohol-dependent prisoners." A law that heals. But the title betrays it: it talks about "prisoners." We treat them later, not before. And we're not talking about big-time criminals: small-time drug dealing, minor offenses, marginalized individuals. People who, until a few years ago, never ended up in prison. Then came the Caivano package, which raised the sentence for minor offenses from four to five years. A seemingly technical adjustment: after five years, pre-trial detention, which was previously excluded, kicks in. The key that opens the cell. First we turn them into prisoners, then we remember we have to recover them. And the government itself agrees with me. In the committee, Undersecretary Mantovano said two things: that this law doesn't serve to empty prisons, but to recover people; and that rehabilitation is safety, because it removes the incentive that drives crime. His words. So: if rehabilitation is safety, why do we offer it after prison and not before? This measure points to the finger, not the moon: overcrowding. – 139%: the real rate in Italian prisons; – 18,000 inmates over capacity; – 8 institutions over 200%: two people for every place. And now the heat, which in crowded cells is not a discomfort: it's health and dignity. First we increase sentences, then we discover we've filled prisons with marginalized people. We empty the sea with a bucket, keeping the tap running. That's why, as Italia Viva, we abstained.