Russell Williams
Well-Known Member
Or should be ask for higher taxes to help keep them in jail until they die?
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The ACLU is suggesting that prisoners over 50 who have not done violent crimes or child abuse be considered for release because it becomes increasingly expensive to house in prison this aging population. Some of the comments opposing the ACLU's position insist that since these people have done crimes they must continue to be punished regardless of the expense involved. Some point out that even relatively minor crimes can leave the victims suffering for a lifetime. The following are my thoughts on the situation.
Those who ask for revenge regardless of whether or not it makes sense any longer are asking for other taxpayers to pay for their revenge. I have not read all of the comments but how many of the people commenting have said that they are willing to pay higher taxes to keep the elderly in jail. Locally it is possible for a person just out of jail, who is willing to follow jail like rules, to get a single room, with the bathroom down the hall, and a community kitchen, for about $400 a month. The rooms are in an old college dormitory so think college dormitory when you're thinking about the room. Say about $4800 year for room. If food is $100 a week that works out to about $5000 year for food. The rooms are on the bus line and within walking distance of most government offices. The medical costs will be less if the person becomes eligible for the free clinic and, unlike in prison, no one needs to be paid to supervise them while they walk to the free clinic, supervise them while they are there, and supervise them while they walk back to their apartment. The person cooks their own food instead of the prison system paying somebody else to cook it for them and march them from their prison cells to the dining hall and then march them back to their prison cell. For recreation they can get out and walk around the streets rather than government paying someone else to walk them from their prison cell to the prison recreation yard and then supervising them while they are in the recreation yard and walking them back.
It certainly comes in at a lot less than the $27,000 year I have seen as the cost for incarcerating a person for a year. It is possible that they might go back to selling drugs on street corners or being prostitutes or robbing 7/11 or having a stable of prostitutes. Does anyone have any statistics on the number of street-level drug dealers who are over 50, the number of prostitutes who are over 50, and/or the number of 7-Eleven robbers who are over 50?
Documentation of the news story about the ACLU.
http://usnews.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2...ions-by-releasing-some-elderly-prisoners?lite
"States could save billions of dollars a year without compromising public safety if they released low-risk prisoners who are age 50 and older, the ACLU says.
A report released Wednesday by the organization finds that states spend more than $16 billion of taxpayer money annually locking up hundreds of thousands of elderly prisoners who are unlikely to re-offend.
Extremely disproportionate sentencing policies, fueled by the tough on crime and war on drugs movements, have turned our prisons into nursing homes, and taxpayers are footing the bill, Inimai Chettiar, ACLU advocacy and policy counsel and one of the reports lead authors, said in a news release."
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The ACLU is suggesting that prisoners over 50 who have not done violent crimes or child abuse be considered for release because it becomes increasingly expensive to house in prison this aging population. Some of the comments opposing the ACLU's position insist that since these people have done crimes they must continue to be punished regardless of the expense involved. Some point out that even relatively minor crimes can leave the victims suffering for a lifetime. The following are my thoughts on the situation.
Those who ask for revenge regardless of whether or not it makes sense any longer are asking for other taxpayers to pay for their revenge. I have not read all of the comments but how many of the people commenting have said that they are willing to pay higher taxes to keep the elderly in jail. Locally it is possible for a person just out of jail, who is willing to follow jail like rules, to get a single room, with the bathroom down the hall, and a community kitchen, for about $400 a month. The rooms are in an old college dormitory so think college dormitory when you're thinking about the room. Say about $4800 year for room. If food is $100 a week that works out to about $5000 year for food. The rooms are on the bus line and within walking distance of most government offices. The medical costs will be less if the person becomes eligible for the free clinic and, unlike in prison, no one needs to be paid to supervise them while they walk to the free clinic, supervise them while they are there, and supervise them while they walk back to their apartment. The person cooks their own food instead of the prison system paying somebody else to cook it for them and march them from their prison cells to the dining hall and then march them back to their prison cell. For recreation they can get out and walk around the streets rather than government paying someone else to walk them from their prison cell to the prison recreation yard and then supervising them while they are in the recreation yard and walking them back.
It certainly comes in at a lot less than the $27,000 year I have seen as the cost for incarcerating a person for a year. It is possible that they might go back to selling drugs on street corners or being prostitutes or robbing 7/11 or having a stable of prostitutes. Does anyone have any statistics on the number of street-level drug dealers who are over 50, the number of prostitutes who are over 50, and/or the number of 7-Eleven robbers who are over 50?
Documentation of the news story about the ACLU.
http://usnews.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2...ions-by-releasing-some-elderly-prisoners?lite
"States could save billions of dollars a year without compromising public safety if they released low-risk prisoners who are age 50 and older, the ACLU says.
A report released Wednesday by the organization finds that states spend more than $16 billion of taxpayer money annually locking up hundreds of thousands of elderly prisoners who are unlikely to re-offend.
Extremely disproportionate sentencing policies, fueled by the tough on crime and war on drugs movements, have turned our prisons into nursing homes, and taxpayers are footing the bill, Inimai Chettiar, ACLU advocacy and policy counsel and one of the reports lead authors, said in a news release."
