If the
prisons continue to increase the population overgrowth without an appropriate increase
in budget to support and properly house, feed and care for the inmates there
will be no funds left for reform. This
will soon cut into the budget for classes and education that is offered to
offenders while incarcerated so that they can get out and have hope for a
straight and promising life off the streets that got them there in the first
place. Prison is supposed to be used for
reform and to help people to get their lives together and it can work because I
have seen it personally! As beautifully
stated in the Huffington Post, “People are going to recidivate more when they
get out of horrendous conditions without job training and development programs
to get their lives back together.” Which
by the way, you should definitely check that article out because the funny
thing is that they basically back up everything that I just said up until that
point and I hadn't even found it until then.
It is a very interesting article as well.
We have to
think of how to fix this problem and of course when dealing with the government;
we have to think of the most cost effective way. So… there are a few cost effective ways to
fix it. First, reintroduce parole back
into the Federal system! Second, for the
love of meatballs! LOWER THESE
SENTENCES! The sentences for the non-violent
crimes is just ridiculous and uncalled for!
According to the Huffington Post, about 48% of the more than 218,000
inmates in Federally ran and privately ran prisons, are there for drug related
charges. Now, while I am not by any
means saying that drug cases don’t need to be taken seriously or punished, I am
just simply saying that when it comes to drugs, I see it as a slippery
slope. Yes, it is illegal. Yes, drugs are bad. No, chances are no one is making the addict
take the drugs! I am just saying that
there is a half of that population that could be better used for the people who
really need to be in there and not come out for a long time (if not ever). Another cheaper alternative for the offenders
with drug offences is Drug Court. It has
proven results, which can be found here on this page. Also, since Americans are so damn financially
driven and always worried about who is in their pocket and where their money is
going… Let me hit you where it hurts!
Your ready for it? LOL Ok… So, On average, it costs almost $29,000
to keep ONE person in federal prison for one year! So, earlier I mentioned that there are more
than 218,000 inmates in the federal (and private) prisons, so, I did the math
on just the 218,000 and for one year, that came out to be $6,322,000,000. To break it down for you a bit more, I will do
it for just the drug offenders. Since
48% of that 218,000 is drug related offenders, I came up with a total cost of $3,034,560,000. LOL. And
you guessed it! That is coming out of
the Americans tax dollars! Go ahead and
think about that for a while. Again, I understand that there are even some drug cases that deserve severe drug sentences. However, a HUGE majority of them do NOT! I believe that they need to be severely reevaluated.
Anyway… lastly,
I will end with this… yes, if you do the crime you must pay the time! However, there is no need to destroy lives
and give up hope in the process. Instead
of locking them up and throwing away the key, give them a chance to let the
system work for them not against them.
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