Hoy newspaper says there could be 50,000 persons in Dominican jails by 2010 if the present situation continues. Of those in jail, 75% have not had judicial hearings, given the backup in the Dominican judiciary. At present there are 18,000 persons in Dominicans jails. The Dirección General de Prisiones, the department in charge of jails, estimates that 243 persons are admitted to the 32 jails every month. Aura Celeste Fernández, a prestigious lawyer who is in charge of the Commission for the Reform and Modernizing of Justice, has denounced that Dominican jails are criminal manufacturing plants. The government has yet to allot the resources to move ahead on the reform projects proposed by the Commission.
