Bulging prisons drain Michigan's budget

[Bozita]

Source: Detroit News

Monday, April 14, 2008

Bulging prisons drain Michigan's budget

State faces hard choices as get-tough laws put more behind bars

Charlie Cain and Gary Heinlein | Photos by Daniel Mears / The Detroit News

Michigan runs one of the nation's largest and most costly prison systems, a $2 billion-a-year expense that is crowding out other spending priorities at a rate many officials fear the state can no longer afford.

Yet despite near-unanimous agreement that Michigan can't pay ever-rising corrections bills during a period of economic decline, politicians and law enforcement professionals remain hesitant to spend less by changing sentencing guidelines or paroling more prisoners.

"Our efforts to grow Michigan's economy and keep our state competitive are threatened by the rising costs in the Department of Corrections," Gov. Jennifer Granholm told The Detroit News. "We spend more on prisons than we do on higher education, and that has got to change."

The problem is reaching a crisis: Michigan's system is already the nation's sixth-largest overall, and ranks 15th among the states in the cost per inmate. It could exceed capacity within two months, said Chief Deputy Corrections Director Dennis Schrantz, unless lawmakers approve stop-gap measures, such as doubling the number of inmates in the state boot camp program.

Read more: http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080414/POLITICS/804140339

[nashville_brook]

1. maybe they should alter their draconian MJ laws--> 2 years in jail for smoking in a park.

there's no social benefit from incarcerating people for simple possession and personal use cultivation. the authoritarians have found themselves in a monkey trap. they HAVE TO LET GO of some of their laws that require jail time. it's a simple fact.

will they have the courage to start here?



Possession
Marijuana use* misdemeanor 90 days
Any amount* misdemeanor 1 year
In a park* misd.or felony 2 years

Cultivation
Less than 20 plants felony 4 years

Sale
Distribution w/o remuneration misdemeanor 1 year

[stellanoir]

2. With the technology available for surveillance nowadays,

there is no way home confinement for addicts and non violent offenders wouldn't save us billions.

Estimated costs of imprisonment vary from state to state from 30 to 100 grand per annum.

If prisoners earned that much in the first place, they probably would have beat the charges in the first place.

The system is so terribly broken and unfair.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=389&topic_id=2729853

[High Plains]

3. Why should "addicts" be arrested, confined, or imprisoned anyway?

Did they do something to somebody? If not, they should be left alone.

Michigan had 50,000 prisoners as of 2005 (the last year MDC bothered to release a report). The report does not provide a breakdown by offenses, but drug offenders typically make up 20-25% of state prison populations.

10,000 drug prisoners X $25,000 cost per year per prisoner = $25,000,000

It's your money, Michigan taxpayers. Is this how you want to spend it?

[stellanoir]

4. I agree.

It's both Draconian and inhumane.

[juno jones]

5. No to mention, higher education might lessen the numbers

of people who have nothing else to do just hanging out in the park getting high on weed (although I don't really see anything wrong with pot to begin with...).