From Dear Sister Trish:
In the U.S., prisons account for a $37 billion economy. There are more than 2 million inmates serving time in the United States, up from 744,000 in 1985.
America has the world's highest incarceration rate, and the revolving door helps keep those prisons packed: A 2002 study by the Federal Bureau of Justice Statistics found that 52 percent of released convicts were back in jail within three years.
State prison systems spend more than $30 billion annually, and the Bureau of Prisons budgeted $5 billion for just 182,000 federal inmates this year.
My $0.02's worth:
- That's $18,500 per inmate per year -- a small price to pay for keeping those cretins off the streets.
- End the stupid war on drugs* and treat the problem as a medical problem -- end of world's highest incarceration rate.
- Closing the revolving door is easy -- just stop it with the inmates (except for the drug offenders) inside. Recidivism solved.
- Make them pay. Criminals should have to pay their room & board back. Details to be announced, but this should be a standard part of their sentence. Why the heck isn't it?
- State prison systems are spending under $18k per; the Federales are spending roughly $27k. Still think National Health Care is a good idea?
* UPDATE: 92 year old woman killed in Atlanta by police after shooting three detectives in a drug raid. Less of this, please.
Comments