The real cost of prison: It's the economy stupid
Moral, social and political arguments for and against prison are all very well. But what about value for money?
"It might be true that incarceration reduces re-offending, but the cost of the prison system still has to justify that reduction. Is the cost of cutting offending through prisons too high? Could alternatives provide better value for money?".
Kevin Marsh argues that:
"Alternatives to prison seem to deliver a better return on public money".
A mixture of law, politics, autobiography and humour. Once described as "The Devilish Advocate" (Guardian), I do have the ability to provoke a response. Sometimes it comes from someone who uses a thought process, and sometimes from jerks usually associated with the knee.
6 comments:
JHL - off topic but I have a link to a petition for a new trial for a Texas Death Row prisoner. Please sign if so inclined and pass it on.
Ta muchly
WR: Been there, done it, can I have my T Shirt please?
I do a nice line in fake Armani ;)
I know, I used to come across them in Barnardo's charity shop when I was doing community work from Sudbury open prison...
for 35k a year i expect prisoners to be educated and skilled on release. How does eton do it?
As crass as it may be to reduce inmates to dollars and cents, I completely agree with the economic analysis of corrections. I'm a believer in community corrections anyway, so this especially works for me. However, as much as I love the idea, I'm a little skeptical about the economic analysis - seems like there's a lot of guessing involved as to how much detriment or value a person might cause who remains in the community as opposed to prison.
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