"Prison overcrowding should be regarded as a temporary measure to be addressed through investment in prisons. Existing Prisoners should not be released early and the appropriate sentence should always bee given and not downgraded simply because of a shortfall in prison spaces. Where the offence warrants a prison term, and where appropriate, the offender should be released into the community until such time as a cell is available for them. It is not always necessary that sentence is carried out immediately. It works for the NHS, it can work for prisons."
This is a fascinating idea. Notwithstanding my liberal views (I suspect prison of being pointless as a punishment and not worth much as a deterrent; I also am unconvinced that justice involves punishment anyway; in short, the value of prison is only to keep away from society those who are likely to re-offend against it) which I know the world doesn't share - why not?
OK, clearly you are going to have a problem keeping tabs on the convicted so that they don't escape and disappear before their sentences come up. But given tagging and modern technology I don't think that's insoluble. Clearly there's also the risk of their re-offending - but again, tagging, perhaps, could solve this. There's ways around it, anyway.
Somewhere along the line this seems to me strangely plausible. Mad, in many respects, and yet ... plausible.
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