States May Free Inmates to Save Millions

Thu Apr 3, 2008 12:33 PM EDT
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PROVIDENCE — Lawmakers from California to Kentucky are trying to save money with a drastic and potentially dangerous budget-cutting proposal: releasing tens of thousands of convicts from prison, including drug addicts, thieves and even violent criminals.

Officials acknowledge that the idea carries risks, but they say they have no choice because of huge budget gaps brought on by the slumping economy.

"If we don't find a way to better manage the population at the state prison, we will be forced to spend money to expand the state's prison system — money we don't have," said Jeff Neal, a spokesman for Rhode Island Gov. Don Carcieri.

At least eight states are considering freeing inmates or sending some convicts to rehabilitation programs instead of prison, according to an Associated Press analysis of legislative proposals. If adopted, the early release programs could save an estimated $450 million in California and Kentucky alone.

A Rhode Island proposal would allow inmates to deduct up to 12 days from their sentence for every month they follow rules and work in prison. Even some violent offenders would be eligible but not those serving life sentences.

A plan in Mississippi would offer early parole for people convicted of selling marijuana or prescription drugs. New Jersey, South Carolina and Vermont are considering funneling drug-addicted offenders into treatment, which is cheaper than prison.

The prospect of financial savings offers little comfort to Tori-Lynn Heaton, a police officer in a suburb of Providence whose ex-husband went to prison for beating her. He has already finished his prison term, but would have been eligible for early release under the current proposal.

"You're talking about victim safety. You're talking about community member safety," she said. "You can't balance the budget on the backs of victims of crimes."

But prisons "are one of the most expensive parts of the criminal-justice system," said Alison Lawrence, who studies corrections policy for the National Conference of State Legislatures. "That's where they look to first to cut down some of those costs."

Rhode Island Corrections Director A.T. Wall was not sure how many prisoners could be freed early. The payoff for doing so may be relatively small: less than $1 million for the first fiscal year, although that figure would increase over time.

In California, where lawmakers have taken steps to cut a $16 billion budget deficit in half by summer, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger proposed saving $400 million by releasing more than 22,000 inmates who had less than 20 months remaining on their sentences. Violent and sex offenders would not be eligible.

Laying off prison guards and making it more difficult to send parole violators back to state prison would account for part of the savings.

Law enforcement officials and Republican lawmakers immediately criticized Schwarzenegger's proposal, which would apply to car thieves, forgers, drunken drivers and some drug dealers. Some would never serve prison time because the standard sentence for those crimes is 20 months or less.

"To open the prison door and release prisoners back into communities is merely placing a state burden onto local governments and will ultimately jeopardize safety in communities," said Fresno Police Chief Jerry Dyer, who could see 1,800 inmates released in his area.

In Kentucky, which faces a $1.3 billion deficit, lawmakers approved legislation Wednesday to grant early release to some prisoners. Initial estimates were that the plan could affect as many as 2,000 inmates and save nearly $50 million.

If the governor signs the bill, the exact number of prisoners would be determined by prison officials. Violent convicts and sexual offenders would be exempt.

Gov. Steve Beshear has said Kentucky must review its policies after the state's inmate population jumped 12 percent last year — the largest increase in the nation.

Kentucky spends more than $18,600 to house one inmate for a year, or roughly $51 a day. In California, each inmate costs an average of $46,104 to incarcerate.

The prison budget in Mississippi has nearly tripled since stricter sentencing laws took effect in 1994.

To curb spending, lawmakers have offered a bill to make about 7,000 drug offenders in prison eligible for parole. A second proposal would allow the parole board to release inmates convicted of selling marijuana and prescription drugs after serving just a quarter of their sentences. Currently, they must serve 85 percent of their terms before release.

Michigan is trying to speed up the parole process for about 3,500 inmates who were convicted of nonviolent, nonsexual offenses, or who are seriously ill.

Barbara Sampson, chairwoman of the Michigan Parole Board, said early release often makes sense, especially for low-risk offenders who get help rebuilding their lives.

"Getting that prisoner back to the community so that he can stay connected to his family, getting him back into the work force ... that's a positive thing," she said.

But not everyone is sold on the idea.

"Economics cannot be the engine that drives the train of public safety," said Terrence Jungel, executive director of the Michigan Sheriffs' Association. "Government has no greater responsibility than the protection of its citizens."

____

Associated Press writers Don Thompson in Sacramento, Calif.; Roger Alford in Frankfort., Ky.; Ron Harrist in Jackson, Miss.; Wilson Ring in Montpelier, Vt.; Brad Haynes in Trenton, N.J.; and David Eggert in Lansing, Mich., contributed to this report.

© 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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{"commentId":1652910,"authorDomain":"geoff422"}
g30ph

Anyone arrested for drug possession should be released, and only non-violent convicts should be released.

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Reply#1 - Thu Apr 3, 2008 6:09 PM EDT
{"commentId":1655682,"authorDomain":"davidyuhas"}
David Yuhas

To Ray & Support Staff

Compliments on the timely & well-written article. Feel free to get in touch with me for an article about my plan to hire 100,000 prison inmates for a four-year long project. With a time of mass unemployment coming down, dumping inmates on the street en masse is not the best of ideas.

Hoping to hear from Ray, Don or the others, I am, with best regards, David Yuhas

To

Secretary James B. Peake, Veterans Administration, Washington, DC
Secretary of the Interior, Dirk Kempthorne, Washington, DC
John E. Potter, Postmaster General
David Wardale, Chief of Design, 5AT Locomotive Project, England
Roger Waller, Locomotive Designer, c/o DLM AG, Winterthur, Switzerland
Harry Valentine, Locomotive Designer, Canada
Robin Barnes, 5AT Locomotive Illustrator
Ms. Sally Spencer, BLM Wild Horse & Burro Program
Michael Antal, Charcoal Production Specialist, Hawaii
Michael Lurvey, Charcoal Production Specialist, Hawaii
Dwight Beranek, Railroad Designer, Army Corps of Engineers
Dr. C.P. Peterson, Chancellor, University of Colorado, Boulder
Ward J. Timken, American Iron & Steel Institute
John Cavanaugh, Electro-Motive Diesel Inc
Jay Davis, Macquarie Infrastructure Company
Warren Buffett, Berkshire Hathaway Inc.
Peter G. Peterson, The Peterson Institute
Frederick W. Smith, Federal Express
D. Scott Davis, UPS
David Stall, CorridorWatch, Texas

Great Western Railway Project

Governor of Wyoming, Dave Freudenthal
Governor of Montana, Brian Schweitzer
Lt. Governor of Montana, John Bohlinger
Governor of Idaho, C.L. Otter
Lt. Governor of Idaho, James Risch
Governor of Utah, Jon Huntsman Jr.
Mayor of Ft. Collins, Doug Hutchinson
Mayor of Cheyenne, Jack R. Spiker,
Mayor of Laramie, Klaus Hanson
Mayor of Casper, Ms. Kate Sarosy
Mayor of Sheridan, Dave Kinskey
Chairman Carl Venne, Crow Nation, Montana
Mayor of Billings, Ron Tussing
City Manager of Bozeman, Chris Kukulski
Mayor of Butte, Paul Babb
Mayor of Idaho Falls, Jared D. Fuhrman
Chairman Alonzo Coby, Ft. Hall/ Pocatello
Mayor of Logan, Randy Watts
Mayor of Ogden, Matthew R. Godfrey
Mayor of Salt Lake City, Rocky Anderson
Mayor of Provo, Lewis K. Billings
Paul Copeland, Beatty-Balfour Rail Inc.
William M. Stout, Atlas Railroad Construction
Jeffrey M. Levy, Railworks Inc.

Great Plains Express Project, Trunk Line

Governor of Texas, Rick Perry
Governor of Colorado, Bill Ritter
Mayor of McAllen, Richard F. Cortez
Mayor of Laredo, Raul G. Salinas
City Manager of Del Rio, Frances Rodriguez
Mayor of Midland, W. Wesley Perry
Mayor or Odessa, Richard Morton
Mayor of Lubbock, David A. Miller
Mayor of Amarillo, Debra McCartt
Ms Vera Ortegon, City Council of Pueblo
Mayor of Colorado Springs, Richard Skorman
Mayor of Denver, John Hickenlooper
Mayor of Greeley, Ed Clark
William Herzog, Herzog Railroad Construction

Great Plains Express Project, Grand Fork Line

Governor of Oklahoma, Brad Henry
Governor of Kansas, Kathleen Sebelius
Governor of Nebraska, D.H. Heineman
Governor of South Dakota, Mike Rounds
Governor of North Dakota,
Mayor of Oklahoma City, Mick Cornett
Mayor of Wichita, Carl Brewer
Mayor of Lincoln, Chris Beutler
Mayor of Omaha, Mike Fahey
Mayor of Sioux Falls, Dave Munson
Mayor of Fargo, Dennis Walaker
Peter McKenna, Skanska USA

Alaska-Canada Rail Link (Parallel Project)

Governor of Alaska, Sarah Palin
Premier of the Yukon, Dennis Fentie
Premier of British Columbia, Gordon Campbell
Project Director, Kells Boland

Dear Friends,

The latest news sent my way concerns the Alaska-Canada Rail Link Project, of which I had not been aware, but which appears to be well under way.

While there is much, I am sure, that the Western State Cavalry-Great Western Railway-Great Plains Express Project can learn from our neighbors in the Great White North, I suspect, on the matter of labor costs, that the learning process could work the other way.

As a consultant on the ACRL I would call this project's attention to the following statistics

************************************************************

Number of Prisons in Canada

In 2004/2005, there were 190 prisons and jails across Canada, of which 76 were under federal jurisdiction and 114 were under provincial/territorial jurisdiction (of these 114, only 16 are minimum security).
The Costs of Incarceration

Correctional services expenditures totalled $2.8 billion in 2004/2005, up 2% in constant dollars from 2003/2004. Custodial services (prisons) accounted for the largest proportion (71%) of the expenditures, followed by community supervision services (14%), headquarters and central services (14%), and National Parole Board and provincial parole boards (2%). This figure does not include policing or court costs which bring the total expenditures up to more than $10 billion for the year.
Cost of incarcerating a Federal prisoner: $259.05 per prisoner/per day
Cost of incarcerating a Federal female prisoner: $150,000-$250,000 per prisoner/per year
Cost of incarcerating a Federal male prisoner: $87,665 per prisoner/per year
Cost of incarcerating a provincial prisoner: $141.78: per prisoner/per day
The cost of alternatives such as probation, bail supervision and community supervision range from $5-$25/day.

Prisoners' Wages

In 1981, the daily wage rate for a federal prisoner was $7.55 and a canteen basket cost $8.49.
In 2007, the daily wage rate for a federal prisoner is $6.90 and that same canteen basket now costs $61.59.
***********************************************************

The protocol of a Western State Cavalry consisting of veterans of Iraq & Afghanistan being created to oversee an equal number of Inmate Infantrymen in portaging nine-foot timbers to the roadside, both as a wildfire control procedure & also to provide ties for the railroad tracks, might be the same one used in Canada...but with a couple of differences.

The RCMP, unlike the U.S. Cavalry, never having been disbanded, would not have to be revived. This organization, perhaps augmented by Canadian veterans of Afghanistan could oversee an equal number of Canadian Inmate Infantrymen at a profit at 80% of the cost of their very high costs of upkeep behind bars.

I must say I don't know quite what to make of the annual upkeep costs of Canadian prisoners, $87,000 for males & twice that for females, as the cost of ours...from $13,000 in Texas to $28,000 in Oregon are not even in the same ballpark. My guess is that drug rehab in the Methampthamine Belt is the reason for the disparity.

The Inmate Infantrymen employed in the Lower 48 Project, would consist entirely of able-bodied, non-drug dependent, non-smoking prisoners. With a non-smoking crew, it seems to me, there would be no need for wages...which is a savings right there. The Minimum Security prisoners would be assigned the the GWR project, where amongst the trees, the sight lines will often be broken up. The Mediums & the Maximums would be assigned to the open terrain of the Great Plains Express. The money would be better for the Big Ticket inmates & I don't see any great cause for concern, as the Cavalrymen would have their horses, pistols & cell phones, while the Mediums & Maximums would wear ankle bracelets.

As the 1,700 mile Transcontinental Railroad took no more than five years to lay, given the circumstances of the 1860s, I don't see why the 3,400 miles of the combined Great Western Railway & Great Plains Express should take any more than four years...& not start making a profit from Day One.

I hope that the GWR & GPE might serve as Equal Opportunity Mail Carriers...moving the mail for the USPS, UPS, Fed Ex & DHL. I would like to hear from these parties...for the rule on these postings is that only those who appreciate being on the mailing list are on it...while those who let me know otherwise are taken off it without delay.

Last night on Charlie Rose the guest was Mr. Peter Peterson whose succinct formulation of a modern project..."You have an Operational Partner & a Capital Partner", is something I had suspected, but appreciated hearing it put just that way.

The Operational Partner for the GWR & GPE, as I envisage, would be a Consortium of Six...being the companies of Messrs Beranek, McKenna, Herzog, Copeland, Stout & Levy. I would ask any of the Six who would rather not find their names on this list to kindly let me know, & I shall take care of it. The Capital Partner has yet to be determined, & the sum required, $18,000,000,000, being no small amount, may well call for a well-organized Operational Partner.

Best regards, David Yuhas, Boulder, Colorado

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    Reply#2 - Fri Apr 4, 2008 1:19 PM EDT
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