Rare Discussion of Incarceration in the MSM

It's always nice to see the mainstream media give some attention to America's tremendous problem of incarceration. Pew released a report on Monday about prisoners and associated costs in the U.S., and Reuters followed with an article.

Pew found that cutting back on prison populations is an easy way for states to save money during the recession:

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 release of prisoners has been floated in some states as an idea to save money, but no politician wants to be seen as someone who releases dangerous criminals onto the streets (see the Dukakis campaign).

Still, given that the U.S. incarcerates its citizens for lesser offenses and longer terms than other developed nations, reform of our criminal justice system would be both a practical cost-saving measure and a step towards progress as a civilization. Unfortunately, although carceral policy and budgets are intertwined, our lawmakers are too distracted by the worsening economy to give much attention to this issue.

For more on this, I would encourage all undergrads to take Government 314: Prisons, one of the most interesting classes I've taken at Cornell.