Prison Growth Could Cost Billions Over the Next Five Years, Report Finds

Could it be, we have too many stupid laws, that most people have no intention of actually obeying, in the first place, unless they just want to.

It is time for this crap to stop! We could save gazillions if prisons were reserved for violent offenders and offenders who hurt children; not pot smokers.

Prison and punishment have become big business, and we all know what happens when the bottom-line feeders get involved in anything, especially when they get government contracts. It's like winning the damn lottery!

PND - News - Prison Growth Could Cost Billions Over the Next Five Years, Report Finds:

By 2011 America will have more than 1.7 million men and women in prison, costing taxpayers as much as $27.5 billion more than what is currently spent on prisons, a new report from the Public Safety Performance Project at the Pew Charitable Trusts finds.

Public Safety, Public Spending: Forecasting America's Prison Population 2007-2011 (52 pages, PDF), estimates that without policy changes by the states, one in every 178 U.S. residents will live in prison by 2011. In particular, Alaska, Arizona, Idaho, Montana, and Vermont can expect to see their prison systems grow by a third or more over that period unless they change their sentencing and release practices. And barring reforms, Colorado, Nevada, South Dakota, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming can expect their inmate populations to increase by about 25 percent.

Prepared by the D.C.-based JFA Institute, the report estimates that new inmates will cost states an additional $15 billion for prison operations over the five-year period, while construction of new prison beds will cost as much as $12.5 billion. A significant driver of the expected prison population increase is the cumulative impact of state policy decisions such as mandatory minimum prison sentences, reduced parole grant rates, and high recidivism rates, especially among people on parole or probation.