Cost of locking up Americans too high: Pew study

[MB_722]

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - One in every 31 U.S. adults is in the corrections system, which includes jail, prison, probation and supervision, more than double the rate of a quarter century ago, according to a report released on Monday by the Pew Center on the States.

The study, which said the current rate compares to one in 77 in 1982, concluded that with declining resources, more emphasis should be put on community supervision, not jail or prison.

"Violent and career criminals need to be locked up, and for a long time. But our research shows that prisons are housing too many people who can be managed safely and held accountable in the community at far lower cost," said Adam Gelb, director of the Center's Public Safety Performance Project, which produced the report.

The United States has the highest incarceration rate and the biggest prison population of any country in the world, according to figures from the U.S. Department of Justice.

Most of those in the U.S. corrections system -- one in 45 -- are already on probation or parole, with one in 100 in prison or jail, the Pew study found.

Those numbers are higher in certain areas of the country, and Georgia tops all states with one in 13 adults in the justice system. The other leading states are Idaho, where one in 18 are in corrections and Texas, where the rate is one in 22. In the nation's capital, Washington, D.C., nearly 5 percent of adults are in the city's penal system.

This was the first criminal justice study that took into account those on probation and parole as well as federal convicts, Pew said.

'STATES SPENDING TOO MUCH'

The numbers are also concentrated among groups, with a little more than 9 percent of black adults in prisons or jails or on probation or parole, as opposed to some 4 percent of Hispanics and 2 percent of whites.

Pew compiled the report as states consider cutting corrections spending during the recession. The research group said that by changing sentencing laws and probation programs states can lower incarceration rates and save money.

"Among the many programs that are competing for scarce taxpayer dollars, there is one area of the state budget that could use some trimming, and that area is corrections," said Susan Urahn, the center's managing director, in a call with reporters. "The bottom line is that states are spending too much."

Penitentiary systems have been the fastest-growing spending area for states after Medicaid, the healthcare program for those with low income. Over the last 20 years their spending on criminal justice has increased more than 300 percent, the study found.

During the last 25 years prison and jail populations have grown 274 percent to 2.3 million in 2008, according to the Pew research, while those under supervision grew 226 percent over the same span to 5.1 million.

It estimated states spent a record $51.7 billion on corrections in fiscal year 2008 and incarcerating one inmate cost them, on average, $29,000 a year. But the average annual cost of managing an offender through probation was $1,250 and through parole $2,750.

"The huge differences between states are mostly due not to crime trends, or social and economic forces," Gelb said. "The rates are different mostly because of choices that the states have made about how they respond to crime."

"New community supervision strategies and technologies need to be strengthened and expanded, not scaled back. Cutting them may appear to save a few dollars, but it doesn't," Gelb said.
Some states have begun experimenting with ankle bracelets, Global Positioning Systems, and even kiosks akin to cash machines in order to track those on probation for less, he said.

Some states have begun experimenting with ankle bracelets, Global Positioning Systems, and even kiosks akin to cash machines in order to track those on probation for less, he said.

(Reporting by Lisa Lambert; Editing by Eric Walsh)

http://www.reuters.com/article/domesticNews/idUSTRE5215TW20090302?pageNumber=1&virtualBrandChannel=0&sp=true

[The True Adonis]

I have brought this up time and time again.

The UNITED STATES has 25 percent of the world`s prison population, more than CHINA or any other nation in prison, yet we have 4.53 percent of the World`s population.

Its not right at all.  Bad Laws, Bad Justice system.

[SAMSON123]

I have brought this up time and time again.

The UNITED STATES has 25 percent of the world`s prison population, more than CHINA or any other nation in prison, yet we have 4.53 percent of the World`s population.

Its not right at all.  Bad Laws, Bad Justice system.

This system is as it is because it has been made into a MONEY MAKING VENTURE. Most cities are spending upwards of 75,000 dollars per person per year to hold people in jail. California recently was in the news saying it would release 58,000 prisoners because the cost was too high. A little math shows a spell binding figure 58000 x 75000 = 4.35 BILLION PER YEAR to hold people who may have committed minor offenses traffic tickets, child support payments, jay walking, marijuana, fighting, drunk, disorderly conduct etc. What could California have better done with 4.35 BILLION dollars. Now in america there is something on the order of 4 million people in jail...4,000,000 x 75,000 = 300 BILLION DOLLARS spent on the prison system...DOES THAT MAKE ANY SENSE?

[headhuntersix]

Start with deporting all the aliens...and then make prison suck instead of what we have. I'm sure a prison work camp in China doesn't cost that much to run.

[SAMSON123]

Start with deporting all the aliens...and then make prison suck instead of what we have. I'm sure a prison work camp in China doesn't cost that much to run.

Let deport you and watch americas IQ jump twenty points

[shootfighter1]

Agreed, too many people are jailed.  House arrest for most non-violent drug offences IMO.  We spend far too much locking people up.  Yes, deport all illegal criminals, no questions asked and use better technology at the border.

[Dos Equis]

We have too many people in prison, but that's because people keep breaking the law.  The problem isn't necessarily the justice system, it's the breakdown of the family.  Bad adult behavior typically starts at home.  That's what needs to be fixed.  I don't think the solution is to let criminals out of jail. 

[Bharper]

We can thank the unconstitutional and hopeless war on drugs for the booming prison population. 

We should deport all illegals and brand them with a mark on the forehead if they come in and are caught.

[240 is Back]

We can thank the unconstitutional and hopeless war on drugs for the booming prison population. 

We should deport all illegals and brand them with a mark on the forehead if they come in and are caught.

whose gimmic are you?

you arrive and post 10 times an hour, all doom and gloom, all in the politics board.  don't be shy.

[Bharper]

whose gimmic are you?

you arrive and post 10 times an hour, all doom and gloom, all in the politics board.  don't be shy.

gimmic?

I joined a few weeks ago and forgot about the board.  I usually post in the political sections on the boards I'm on.  We used to have one on Outlaw but they closed it b/c it started fights, lol..

Doom and gloom huh. Have you looked at the economy and political situation?  We wouldn't be in this mess had our elected officials followed the Constitution from the beginning.  I'm sorry the truth hurts.  Give me something to be optimistic about and I'll ump on it but from where I'm sitting this administration is flying blind and must have slept through their history classes.

I'll be around from now on, so it's nice to meet you.  If I push your buttons, I apologize but I'm only speaking of what I see.  I wish there were nicer things of which to speak.