Prison Spending 1^st Draft

“As an abstract term, prison is quite simple: it's a place where your freedom, movements and access to basically everything is restricted, usually as punishment for committing a crime. But for anyone who has ever done hard time, a prison is so much more: it's a place where dignity, privacy and control are given up to guards and prison administrators, where isolation and boredom can drive someone insane, and where the simplest of necessities seem like luxuries.”[1] Prisons are created to punish criminals, prevent future crimes, and to rehabilitate or reform criminals[2]. If prisons are created to rehabilitate or reform criminals, why is the recidivism rate 52%? [3] Why should the government continue to place millions of dollars into the prison system when they are not completing their task of treating criminals to become better citizens? However, spending has been dangerous to the economy. In previous years, prison spending has increased and took a toll on Americas’ economy, California in particular. California spends about $52,000 a year for one inmate and has a budget of $11billion.[4] Prisoners in jail are receiving better treatment than homeless people. However in the education system, spending has decreased, and students are forced to pay tens of thousands of dollars they don’t have to obtain a higher education. Prison spending should be decreased, allowing money to be distributed to other programs.

            California imprisonment is expensive. According to the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, their current budget is almost $11 billion to oversee and supervise 316,229 offenders at an average cost of $49,000 per inmate. However in recent years, California spends about $52,000 a year on one inmate to keep them in prison, similar to the cost of tuition, room, and board at Stanford University.  There are 33 state prisons, 40 camps, and 12 community correctional facilities. We have nearly 24,000 people serving life sentences while 680 are on death row. The average age is 37. Three are approximately 124,000 people on parole. The return rate as a parole violator is 51%. [5]However in education, spending has decreased over the years; California ranks 46th in the U.S. in K-12 spending per student. It spent $2,856 less per student in 2010-11 than did the rest of the nation. [6]State funding for higher education has declined because of a slow recovery from the recession and the end of federal stimulus money. Overall, spending declined by some $6 billion, or nearly 8 percent, over the past year, according to the annual Grapevine study by the Center for the Study of Education Policy at Illinois State University[7]. With revenues more than $2.2 billion below projections, Brown said the state has to cut another $1 billion in spending. Of that, about $328 million will come from K-12 education, which is significantly less than the $1.4 billion worst-case scenario. There was no such reprieve for higher education; the University of California, California State University, and the state's community college system will each lose an additional $100 million in the New Year. California State University students will also be paying more. Last month the Board of Trustees approved a 10 percent fee hike that will kick in next fall. CSU has already raised fees by 29 percent over the past year and a half.[8]

Prison spending should be cut and donated to other programs, such as homeless programs, the higher education system, and park and recreational centers for the youth. Prisoners are better taken care of than the homeless. They receive housing, food, medi-care, education, and job opportunities. On the contrary, there are not enough opportunities for homeless people to receive food and housing for one night. With the educational system, higher education is increasing rapidly, and the United States is continuing to spend money on criminals, people who violated the law and others rights, while students are struggling and worrying about how they will pay for college. If the United States continues to inject billions of dollars into the prison system, our students will become discouraged and will stop attending school because of the cost. Although there are many scholarships that are known and unheard of, everyone is not guaranteed to win a scholarship contest, leaving a huge portion of schooling left to be paid. Future college students from the lower and middle class may not attend school due to the cost, leading to the pathway of prison. The pathway of prison would be caused due to the economy; no jobs in the workforce and high costs of schooling would cause one to be vulnerable, and one may attempt to commit a crime to survive since they are not supplied with the necessities of life, unlike prisoners. Instead of using almost 10 billion on prison systems, structuring the pathway to prison, the United States should be using that more for education, providing our future leaders with funds for school. Finally, money should be use to provide park and recreational centers for the youth. Children need to have activities after school to keep them occupied instead of being in the streets. The youth may have their life affected by gangs in their community, especially in South LA.

Therefore, the United States should cut prison spending, and spend more on the education system, the homeless, and the youth in communities that are less fortunate.

Web Cited Page

1. Grabianowski, Ed.  "How Prisons Work"  24 January 2007.  HowStuffWorks.com. <http://people.howstuffworks.com/prison.htm>  23 February 2012
2. Baron, Kathryn, and John Feinsterwald. "California Budget Cuts Slam Higher Education, Almost Spare K-12." The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 14 Dec. 2011. Web. 24 Feb. 2012. <http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/12/14/california-budget-cuts-sl_n_1148735.html>.
3. Lin, Joanna. "Calif. School Spending among Lowest in Nation." California Watch. 17 Oct. 2011. Web. 24 Feb. 2012. <http://californiawatch.org/dailyreport/calif-school-spending-among-lowest-nation-13099>.
4. Armario, Christine. "State Higher Education Spending Sees Big Decline." GoErie.com: Erie's #1 Source for News and Information. 23 Jan. 2012. Web. 24 Feb. 2012. <http://www.goerie.com/article/20121201230596>.
5. Prisons." Current Issues: Macmillan Social Science Library. Detroit: Gale, 2010. Gale Opposing Viewpoints In Context. Web. 21 Feb. 2012.
6. "California Prison System - Summary and Statistics." California Criminal Law. Web. 24 Feb. 2012. <http://www.california-criminal-law.com/prisons/index.html>.
7. "Percent of Released Prisoners Returning to Incarceration." Crimeinamerica.net. Web. 24 Feb. 2012. <http://crimeinamerica.net/2010/09/29/percent-of-released-prisoners-returning-to-incarceration/>.
8. Wingert, Pat. "Classrooms or Prison Cells?" The Daily Beast. Newsweek/Daily Beast, 28 June 2010. Web. 24 Feb. 2012. <http://www.thedailybeast.com/newsweek/2010/06/28/classrooms-or-prison-cells.html>.

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[1] Grabianowski, Ed. How Prisons work

[2] Prisons." Current Issues: Macmillan Social Science Library. Detroit: Gale, 2010. Gale Opposing Viewpoints In Context. Web. 21 Feb. 2012.

[3]  Crimeinamerica.net Percent of Release Prisoners Returning to Incarceration

[4] Wingert, Pat. Classrooms or Prison Cells? 28. June. 2010

[5] "California Prison System - Summary and Statistics." California Criminal Law. Web. 24 Feb. 2012. <http://www.california-criminal-law.com/prisons/index.html>.

[6] Lin, Joanna Calif. School spending among lowest in nation 17. October. 2011

[7] Armario, Christine State higher education spending sees big decline 23. January. 2012

[8] Baron, Kathryn. Fensterwald, John. Budget Cuts Slam Higher Education, Almost spare K-12 14. December 2011.