Over the past thirty years, the prison population has increased considerably. The Bureau of Prisons (BOP) has documented that its population has increased by 60 percent since the year 2000. The increasing inmate population is forcing many prisons across the United States to operate beyond their maximum capacity . Several prisons in the United States have experienced protests due to overcrowded conditions. Many theories debate the reasons for overpopulation and possible solutions. My intention is not to prove why the Bureau of Prisons (BOP) and prisons like the Metropolitan Dentation Center (MDC) are overcrowded, but rather how overcrowded facilities affect inmates, corrections officers, and taxpayers. In New Mexico, there is currently a trial known as the McClendon trial. This lawsuit accuses the Bernalillo County Dentition Center, now known as the Metropolitan Dentition Center (MDC), of violations of inmates' constitutional rights due to overcrowded conditions and unsafe living conditions. This lawsuit was filed in 1995 and remains in dispute today. This lawsuit claims that inmates at the prison were denied adequate health care, safe housing and adequate sanitation. The MDC is not the only prison experiencing overcrowding. Many states are currently being sued by inmates for the dire conditions in the facilities where they were incarcerated. The increase in lawsuits forced the government to pass and sign the Prison Reform Litigation Act (PLRA) on April 26, 1996. The PLRA eliminates frivolous lawsuits that would otherwise take time and effort. money. In an article by Matthew Rowland, "Prison cells are double or triple, making it more likely that some inmate misbehavior will go unnoticed and...... middle of paper ......ars to maintain prisons and house inmates. Prison overcrowding affects everyone. This is a domino effect. Works Cited Baca, JS (2010). Enter the language. In P. Houlihan, A. Pope, and G. Rhodes, Mercury Reader (pp. 9-16). Boston, MA: Pearson Learning Solutions. McKee, C. (April 21, 2013). "Settlement Conference Ordered in MDC Overcrowding Lawsuit". KRQE News. McMillion, R. (December 2012). Growing pains. ABA Journal, 98(12).Pfaff, J.F. (2008). Criminology The Empiricals of Prison Growth: A Critical Review and the Way Forward. The Journal of Criminal Law & Criminology, 98(2), 547-619. Rowland, MG (2013, September). Too many flashbacks, not enough exits? Supervision Violators, Probation Supervision, and Overcrowding at the Federal Bureau of Prisons. Federal Probation, 77(2), 12. Torres, R. (July 17, 2009). Letter to the editor of the Albuquerque Journal. Albuquerque Journal.