It is an excellent article. It makes you think

People don't understand the REAL costs of prisons; they just don't ever stop to think about it.

For example, let's take the case of a guy who received a 10 year sentence for possession of child pornography---five years in prison followed by five years probation. Child pornography is a non-contact, non-violent offense which could easily be managed with community supervision rather than prison.

All these figures I am about to give here are estimations, but they are close.

The average cost to imprison an inmate in the federal system is about $28,000. If he was incarcerated for five years, then the cost for the first five years would be $28,000 x 5 = $140,000.

The approximate cost to supervise an inmate on probation is $3,500. In our example, that would be $3,500 x 5 = $17,500.

Because of his sentence, he had 10 years in which he had little or no income. If he had a job on the outside which mandated him to pay $20,000 a year in federal taxes, Social Security, self-employment taxes, etc., then the government also lost $20,000 x 10 = $200,000 or $200, 000 dollars in revenue which they would have received, but didn't because of his sentence.

Add up these three figures ($140,000 + $17, 500 + $200,000) and that is almost $360,000 that it cost the government directly or indirectly for his five year incarceration plus his five year probation.

But it does not stop there. People on the registry typically have to take jobs which pay much less than the jobs they had before the conviction---so they pay less taxes than before the conviction. If a person was on the registry for 25 years, the expense for this one conviction is well over a half million and probably approaching three quarters of a million dollars----and that is just for one federal inmate serving a sentence for child pornography.

Add to that the expense incurred when the offenders family may need help in the form of state or federal assistance or food stamps since the guy is in prison, plus taxes such as sales taxes, etc. which he would have paid, you are approaching any where from three quarters to a million dollars over a 25 year period.

The government----and ultimately the hard working tax payers of this nation---just literally threw away over half a million dollars just so they could incarcerate an inmate on a charge for a non-violent, non-contact criem.

Was it worth a over half a million dollars to incarcerate one inmate for a non-violent, non-contact crime? I don't think so at all.

Let's say you had one thousand inmates that fit the criteria I just suggested.
1,000 x half a million dollars = 50 million dollars.

Fifty million dollars would send a lot of our young people to college or better our educational opportunities for our children. It would also help poor people with more assistance and there are many other worthwhile things for which the money could have been used instead of throwing down the "Rabbit Hole of Corrections." They state receives absolutely nothing---Zilch, Nada---when they spend money on prisons.

These convictions and prison sentences affect the economy in so many areas that nobody ever thinks about.

If we were smart---and we are not----we would "make the punishment fit the crime" and incarcerate only those we truly fear who are a menace to society instead of incarcerating those we are "just mad at."

But not to worry. It will continue as long as so many groups make so much money by doling out these sentences for non-violent, non-contact crimes. There is no incentive for anyone to stop this madness.

rewdiazepam

It's a good article. But it would be nice if they had also showed how much it cost family to support there loved ones while they are locked up as well as the costs that they did show....oh well I gess we are the forgotten ones.

Suchaslife, the article was targeted for one specific case and Rew filled in the rest. Fantastic job Rew! And considering how many are on SO probation and the registry the costs to taxpayers are astronomical.
One lawyer I spoke with from Premier Defense actually got someone off the registry in FL because he couldn't find a job. The argument? Would you rather have him on food stamps and unemployement and a higher probability to reoffend or actually have a paying job and not on the tax payers dime.
Rew hits it perfectly on the head, the cost to society just to be "mad at them" is immense.

As I mentioned, the cost of sending a person to prison is much more than just the cost of his incarceration during his sentence. There are so many hidden costs that the general public never considers or is made aware of.

How about other costs, which have nothing to do with money? An incarcerated inmate usually has a family that endures untold suffering. After all, they did nothing wrong; they are collateral damage and we need to keep this in mind. The children of the inmate are greatly affected when daddy goes to jail. No more father figure, no more breadwinner to help the family survive in this difficult economic climate.

Destroying the family just to "get back" at one defendant is just ridiculous as well as cruel.

Now before some overzealous nitwit reads this and spouts off that I am insane with my views, I want to make it clear that I am talking about defendants with non-violent, non-contact sex offenses. And I am not suggesting that they are not punished at all, but that they can be managed more effectively and fairly on paper time---not to mention much cheaper. I am talking about decent young men and women who just made a mistake, not career criminals or violent sex offenders.

I am not offering a "pitty pot" for the defendant but rather what is in the best interests for society, which includes his family.

I realize that I am a liberal and a pragmatic thinker, but I use common sense and base my thoughts on reality, not emotion.

We are sending far too many people, including some sex offenders, to prison for long periods of time.

There is absolutely no valid reason that a guy who had consensual sex with an underage girl or a Internet solicitation case in which a guy tries to set up a liaison with an underage girl or someone who downloads a few naughty pictures should be behind razor wire. They could be managed within the community, holding a job, paying taxes instead of being a drain on society as an inmate is.

This group of people did not rape a five year old child or violently assault a female resulting in a rape nor were they guilty of molesting a child for several years. And don't even get me started on the Internet solicitation cases, which the sheriffs in Florida are using as a means to run their own criminal enterprise.

Most of these aforementioned crimes, the child porn, the solicitation, etc., are not crimes committed by someone with an evil mind. Instead, they are committed by people who apparently have something missing in their lives. They need some mental counseling, not incarceration. Trust me, I have been to prison and it has nothing to do with rehabilitation.

I saw so many people in prison who had no real reason to be there. They were there because society felt the need to exact revenge on these inmates.

We need to enable that person to understand why he or she feels a need to look at those images or why they are so lonely and empty that they must solicit a young girl on the Internet.

But instead of using common sense, our government will continue to travel the same road they have traveled for decades. If you commit a crime, and especially a sex crime, By God, we are going to LOCK YOU UP instead of looking at alternatives.

Hopefully it will change someday, but only when our government become real "thinkers" and refuse to play the "corrections game."

This country is so damn stupid when it comes to crime and corrections.

rewdiazepam

rew,
I fully agree with you. Even worse is making incarceration an industry so that those who commit financial crimes can garner more profit. It disgusts me to no end.
Sure, lock up those that just can't stop breaking laws. Most first timers do not fit this mold. Most in prison did not commit a violent crime. Most in prison will do anything they can not to return, if society lets them make it on the outside.

2.7 Million Children Under the Age of 18 Have a Parent in Prison or Jail - We Need Criminal Justice Reform Now
http://www.alternet.org/civil-liberties/27-million-children-under-age-18-have-parent-prison-or-jail

This sounds like a good organization:
Get On The Bus brings children and their caregivers from throughout the state of California to visit their mothers & fathers in prison.
http://www.getonthebus.us/

My son was a first time offender (not even a parking ticket). He was arrested for on line CP. no actual contact with anyone. He is mentally ill, he needs counseling not prison. He also has serious medical issues that need to be treated, that adds to the cost of incarceration. He was sentenced to 10 years in a federal facility. Now Montana has him up on similar charges and are asking the court for a 15 year sentence.
There is also a lot of money being made by these phone services, they charge by the minute for the calls plus a "service charge" every time you put money on the phone account so your loved one can talk to you. The per minute charges depend on weather or not it's long distance (most if not all regular phone companies have been offering free long distance for years), and the service fees are average $6.00.

Let's not forget commisary. My LO's bunkies are so underprivileged and the system is so messed up, that I end up supporting 2. Add to that the cost of buying/ mailing books, magazines, and crosswords too. Believe me, evertime I visit I'm so greatfull for my long term job, and the fact that I CAN do it!!! Sadly, it doesn't look like all families can.

And the fee of "pay for stay"

@frogpond I know that this was a bout just one case but they could of include how much it costs the loved ones to support there family member. Yes I do think that the public need to see where there tax money is going but I think that they also need to see that it's not easy on those who are supporting them.

When my son was out on bail, he was going to counseling, a 12 step type program and another addictions program. They were all helping him. He took his plea, was locked up for 8 1/2 months and of course didn't get any of that help in jail. He had to wait til he got out to resume getting help.

The phone and commissary costs add up plus the cost of visits for those whose loved ones are far away. I was fortunate my son was local.

I had retired early due to stage 2 lung cancer, I have since gone back to work part time so I can put money on a phone account so I can talk to my son who is currently almost on the opposite side of the country. He hasn't been placed in a facility yet, he is still going through the court system so I have had to open 4 different phone accounts in the last 2 months, every time they move him someplace else. I only work part time because between the lobe-ectomy and the emphysema, I don't have the energy to work full time. So far he has been sentenced to 10 years, so we have a long haul ahead of us. I am hoping the eventually wind up in PA or Ohio, I live in Western NY, there are no facilities local, but I can get to PA or Ohio in 3 of 4 hours.

This just illustrates what I have always said---too many people or companies are making too much money for anyone to have an incentive to stop some of this madness.

All you mothers, wives, and girlfriends, and family members of offenders know exactly what I am talking about. Each of you have brought up good examples.

All these young men and women in prison for non contact, non violent offenses cost the taxpayer dearly and practically bankrupt the families of those inmates, when they could have just as easily been managed by a PO within the community.

rewdiazepam

I appreciate there is free 12 step group and my husband got better that way. The counseling that he went to before sentencing is mainly focuse on how to cope the life restrained as RSO. One way the court said they want mandatory treatment, but they did not put the change that husband made through counseling and SA meeting into consideration. The court ordered treatment, must mean that the treatment can help SO recover, but oh no one can ever trust them again.

I felt like it is just a big pice a pie that everyone wants some of it. Even the psychologist/counselor world get the benefit from the mandatory treatment pie from it. They should be the one who with professional ethic and stand up to the current law to insure fair and efficient solution. But their voice are very solemn to be heard on this issue, because they get guaranteed unlimited clients from court referral as long as the law get stricter and stricter.