Prison Costs

[Pygmy Sloth]

I'll start by saying I know very little about this issue and am basing this off of preliminary research.

That being said, I recently read an article in which a young man with 14 warrants was caught and brought to justice. He was not able to pay the 1,200 dollars he was fined and could not post bail and so he was sentenced to 51 days in prison. Doing the math shows that each day in jail is worth 23.53$. Being the inquisitive person I am, I wanted to know how much it costs to hold someone in prison. The national average is 78.59$ a day. After the prisoner in question serves his time he will have COST the prison 2808.09$. Alternatively the cost per day to keep someone on probation is only 3.42$. In this case the man's 51 day sentence would have cost the state only 174.42$. Parole costs 7.74$ a day and for 51 days it would cost the state 394.74$.

So what do you think? Is it worth keeping offenders off the streets at the cost of 55.06$ a day? Or should we take the burden off the Prison systems and Parole more inmate to save money? Or is there another system all together that could save money and still keep communities safe? If your country/community has something different then what's been outlined here I'd like to hear about it and how effective it is.

Lastly, let's all be civilized and remember the rules.

 

[Logan]

Convicted of anything higher than a felony, one bullet to the dome. Costs like three cents. Problem solved.

 

[Pygmy Sloth]

Execution by lethal ejection costs around 80$. And that obviously doesn't include the regular prison costs to house them (78.50$/day) while they wait in line to be shot.

 

[Logan]

Execution by lethal ejection costs around 80$. And that obviously doesn't include the regular prison costs to house them (78.50$/day) while they wait in line to be shot.

Exactly the point. One bullet costs almost nothing.

 

[MasterTyvokka]

Execution by lethal ejection costs around 80$. And that obviously doesn't include the regular prison costs to house them (78.50$/day) while they wait in line to be shot.

While the actual injection may be cheaper than the alternative (life in prison) The overall total cost for a deathrow inmate are usually far greater then that of keeping someone for life in prison. Even someone who might be in their early 20s and who might end spending 60 years locked up. This is because of the appeal process and other court costs associated with a death row inmate. This includes prison costs before execution. Most death row inmates sit on death row for at least 15 years if not more.

So given those facts its not always about money. There are a number of reasons including a general and individual deterrent and a need for retribution among other things. So in the facts you mentioned the likely reason is probably for more of deterrents sake then just putting the guy on probation. Further more while the cost might be lower to put someone on parole probation. My guess is it is easier to throw someone in prison for 51 days for something like this then to put stress on potential already overworked parole and probation officers. Frankly I think there isn't a much better way to handle something like this than is already done.

The real question is why not legalize a drug like marijuana which would bring in revenue and theoretically relieve a lot of "stress" put on the correction system by the huge number of minor drug offenses. One caveat to my post is that the info is off the top of my head based on classes and what little research I have had to do. If any one absolutely needs them I might be able to put my hands on some sources. Also I in know way intended to start a debate on the death penalty.