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RE: The best way to reduce the cost of prisons is by encouraging inmates to lower the cost of their incarceration
Great post. It is very expensive to house prisoners. The ideas you mention all have merit. Non violet drug offenders, release or use ankle bracelets to monitor. Encourage self training to earn early release or $ for transition back to society are all ideas we need to try. In our state we house prisoners for ~ $140/day but we could house out of state for $60/day. We keep them instate so we can try and help and prevent recidivism. Our rates may be the lowest in the country, but it cost $ that we take away from others in society, is it fair?
Thanks for contributing, David! It's great to hear that your state prioritises preventing recidivism over reducing short term incarceration costs by outsourcing the problem. My gut tells me that preventing recidivism is more cost effective in the long term, but I'm not informed enough to make a loud statement on that as I've not read any reliable sources on the topic yet. Do you know if inmates in your state feel positive about the type of programs focused at reentering society that you proposed?
Don't have an answer for your question, just don't know. I do know our % of prisoners population has gone up faster than our general population. However, I don't think violent crimes have increased. Sentencing has.
That sounds disturbing.