More Prison Beds A Waste of Money
Washington State is about to open 1,900 new prison beds at Coyote Ridge this December, in addition to the 600 already there. The plan is then to bring back some of the prisoners we have moved out of state. It costs $30,000 to $40,000 to house a prisoner for a year. What's wrong with this picture?
It's a private for-profit prison. Eighty percent of prisoners state-wide are non-violent, exacerbated by the 3-strikes law. About three-quarters of offenders are there for crimes relating to drug and alcohol addiction, including theft and robbery. The Criminal Justice System is eating up the state budget at a faster rate than anything else besides health care.
Why does this happen? In part because the corrections officers union wants the jobs. Remember, these are the people that actually reduced the King County Council from 13 seats to nine seats. They are not to be trifled with. For prisons, they align with rural Republicans to bring low-paying jobs to economically depressed areas of the state.
The remedy? End the war on drugs, along with the war on young African-American males. Fund drug treatment on demand and find alternative sentences for non-violent offenders. Remember, they will be released sooner or later anyway, so let's work with them while they still have some socialization and families in the community.
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More Prison Beds A Waste of Money | 1 comment (1 topical)
More Prison Beds A Waste of Money | 1 comment (1 topical)
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