What is perhaps the most bizarre part of Mass Incarceration in America is the amount of money we are willing to throw at it, without caring much about how well our money is being spent. I would venture to say there is no other part of our budget that makes less sense than our incarceration funds. We spend about $31,307 on each inmate, each year. This does not take into account the lost tax revenue in having someone locked up and unable to do work. This does not take into account the burden on the economy of someone who is unable to find work because they have been labeled as a criminal. The total yearly cost nowadays is about $80 billion. Every US resident is paying about $260 annually on prisoners. This seems as if it would be against the fundamental beliefs and goals of both Republicans and Democrats. This is big government, wasteful spending. And to make matters worse, the average rate of recidivism is just over 50%. That means that we are spending $80 billion to fail half the time in reforming our former criminals. Wouldn't this money be better spent of schools? Hospitals? Jobs? Literally ANYTHING ELSE? I would argue that we could see lower recidivism if we put that money towards mental health care and therapy for inmates. We have let this go on too long, and we can all stand to gain from reforming our prisons, and putting our money towards things that work.
Read More in a report about the Economics of Incarceration
0 Comments
Nationally, about 5.85 million voting-age adults are denied the right to vote because of laws across many states that bar anyone who has been convicted of a felony from voting and serving on a jury. These kinds of laws are unparalleled in any other country in the world. It is rare, but not unheard of, to prohibit people who are serving prison time from voting. However, the United States is the only advanced nation that prohibits the formerly-incarcerated from exercising this fundamental right. If you think that this is just a drop in the bucket, you're dead wrong. Statistical analysis has shown that if ex-cons in Florida had been able to vote, the entire Bush v. Gore presidential election would have gone the other way. Those are structures that make enormous differences. 1 in 13 African-Americans cannot vote. This is called 'civic death,' and it has no proper validation. Why should we not permit ex-felons from voting. Are they not too a part of the United States? Are they not citizens? Do they not have a vested interest at stake during the electoral season? The only state taking an active part in reversing this injustice is California, which has begun restoring the voting rights of up to 60,000 people at a time. We can do more!
|
AuthorWilliam has been an advocate for Prison Reform for about a year. He began getting involved with "Strong Returns: Millennial Prison Reform," and became the Georgia state captain. ArchivesCategories |