Another strong editorial on correction costs
This morning’s Detroit Free Press has another effective editorial, entitled “Stop the state prison drain: Sentencing, parole reforms are key to getting state Corrections costs in line.” This latest editorial hits similar themes as this earlier one on the costs to Michigan of ever-increasing incarceration rates. Here is how it starts:
Michigan’s super-sized prison system has put the state on financial lockdown. The Department of Corrections is largely responsible for the state’s ongoing budget crisis and the nearly $2-billion shortfall it faces for the next fiscal year. Michigan taxpayers spend $1.9 billion a year — $5 million a day — to lock up more than 50,000 prisoners. That’s more than it spends on higher education. Today, one of three state civil service employees works for Corrections; in 1980, one in 20 did.
Most troubling, Michigan incarcerates at an average rate of 40% higher than the seven other Great Lakes states, which also report lower crime rates. Michigan’s higher incarceration rates take an extra $500 million a year from the state’s depleted general fund. It’s money that could be better used for education, health care, roads or even a tax cut.
Some recent related posts on sentencing costs, politics and increased incarceration: