Letting prisoners out early to save money is not the answer
Filed under: Ripoffs and Scams, Saving
With budgets stretched thin, several states are considering letting inmates out of prison early to save money. Even though they may be more likely to commit new crimes, politicians are saying the cost of those crimes is far less than the cost to keep the prisoners locked up.One argument in favor of letting prisoners out early suggests that those in prison for things like "minor drug offenses" aren't a danger to society and should not have been locked up in the first place. That's a nice thing to say, but where's the proof that there are people in prison "only" for "minor" drug offenses?
Where I come from, you have to commit an awful lot of crimes to actually end up in prison. And that minor drug offense? The only way it's going to get you into prison here is if you've already got a double digit rap sheet. As a former probation officer, I can't tell you how many times I've seen judges try everything they could to avoid sentencing a criminal to prison.
Let's not forget that prisons exist for two primary reasons: To punish offenders and to protect society. If it's getting too expensive to house prisoners, then maybe we need to look at ways to reduce the costs with lower cost meals and control of spending on extras for the inmates. And maybe we can put the prisoners to work doing things that will earn some money for the prison system to help pay their own way.
No one likes to admit it, but prisons are a necessary reality for our society. We have violent offenders who don't deserve to be living in society with the rest of us. We have non-violent offenders who also need to be sent a message that their behavior is not tolerated in a civilized society. Crime deterrence and our safety should come first, and governments should look for other cost-saving measures before they start opening the prison doors. Freeing inmates early should be the absolute last resort.
Tracy L. Coenen, CPA, MBA, CFE performs fraud examinations and financial investigations for her company Sequence Inc. Forensic Accounting, and is the author of Essentials of Corporate Fraud.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
5-07-2008 @ 6:42PM
Jack (SFC: 4983 4617 3409) said...
Where I work, we have a "In Custody Treatment Drug Program". Essentially, a van comes every so often to our facility and drops of a van full of inmates and we're supposed to rehabilitate them in 90 days and then they walk free. The county pays a pretty penny to us for it too. But it must be cheaper for them to pay us then for them to do it for some reason.
Now, I don't speak to all of them, but most of them I don't think should be getting a free ride out of jail. And some of these guys are crazy, quite literally, and potentially dangerous. Good thing is though, the really bad ones will try to walk out and they get put back in prison.
Tracy, I'm sure you're aware that we have an overpopulated prison system. Besides cutting costs there must be something else we can do. We have a quater of the world's prison population in America. (source: http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/04/23/america/23prison.php)
Violent Crime overall has been at a decline. And violent crime as defined by the Department of Justice tackles a whole spectrum of crime. Does jailing everyone make it happen? The last link says its quite debatable.(http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/glance/viort.htm)
I just don't get it.
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5-07-2008 @ 8:17PM
Tracy Coenen said...
I absolutely do not think that we have an "overpopulated" prison system. It may be crowded. But I believe almost every single person needs to be there. Having worked in the "community corrections" system, I can tell you that doesn't work.
What I do know is that society needs to be protected from these criminals.
I believe the reason why other countries have lower prison populations is because they are more moral than we are. Our society is morally bankrupt. We value "feeling good" over anything else. Morals be damned.
We need to return to a society in which family is important, and in which children are taught right from wrong.
One other reason why other cultures have lower prison populations, in my opinion, is that they have much stricter laws with harsher punishments. Those things have a deterrent effect that is important. Our punishment is not that bad comparatively. So the deterrence in our system is lower. Other cultures also believe in their own forms of "street justice" and those can be very effective at reducing crime. I'm not saying that all of their norms and customs are right (or wrong, for that matter). I'm just commenting that I think these things help keep their prison populations down.
We will never have such strict rules or punishment here. It might make our criminals feel bad. Heck, prisons even get sued for not offering enough cable channels or enough extracurricular activities.
Thanks for the comment. I was hoping this topic could spark a nice discussion.
Reply
5-08-2008 @ 1:28PM
Jack (SFC: 4983 4617 3409) said...
Sorry I didn't get to reply yesterday. Perhaps we can continue today a bit.
"Having worked in the "community corrections" system, I can tell you that doesn't work."
I'm sorry, which "that" are you referring to?
I can see what you're saying about "feeling good" as opposed to doing to right thing. I believe it to be true too. While I believe that people like you and I deserve to be shielded from the dangerous and unruly, I don't like the bill that prisons foot on America.
The fact that prisons have cable to begin with is stupid. I don't know the prisons well enough or all really. But things like cable t.v. I don't think should even be in there. News papers and certain things that'll help become an active member of society yes. But TV? Ridiculous. Its like the prison is the average crappy parent of America. "Go to your room! With your PC, video games, and dvd player...."
So would you say that we need harsher punishments overall? Or just in some areas? We have a lot of good arguers here in the states. Perhaps thats why so many types of sentences fall under cruel and unusual punishment suddenly.
In the end though America as a whole needs to parent better and change its way of thinking a bit. I mean all criminals were children once. We all learn most of our behaviors. But changing once thought process is very hard. Let alone for a whole country to do it. I'm not good with history, but I imagine something drastic will have to happen to shake us up out of our moral dilemmas.
5-08-2008 @ 2:18PM
Tracy Coenen said...
Oh, sorry... "That" is "community corrections." Things like probation and parole and electronic monitoring. They're beautiful in theory: Keep an eye on the criminal while allowing him to become a productive part of society. But it simply hasn't worked.
Yes, I wish we could have stricter punishments, but the liberals will never allow it. Anything that even approaches "harsh" is labeled cruel.
So I believe the only way we can become a society with less crime (and therefore fewer prisoners) is with a return to a stronger moral code. But I don't see that happening any time soon.
5-07-2008 @ 11:56PM
John Blazek said...
I don't get it. Its less expensive to the cummunity to let criminals out to commit crime than to lock them up? Ask the victims if thats true. If you really want a solution ask the sheriff of Maricopa Co. Arizona.
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5-09-2008 @ 3:22PM
Lollie said...
Why not turn off the cable TV in prison and give the prisoners some basic education? Give them only reading materials and teach them the value of reading, and I think itmight be the beginning of some positive changes. Of course, this really speaks to my belief that if we educated our population better, there would be less need for prisons. You can discuss morality all you want, but I think the problems of prisoners are more directly related to ignorance, and ignorance passed down through many generations. I'm not saying that intellegent, educated people don't commit crimes, but I would guess that they less crimes overall, and less serious crimes. Anyone else agree with me?
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