geerussell
04-15-2008, 05:57 PM
Billions for incarceration, not one cent for prevention, rehabilitation or education.
Bulging prisons draining Michigan's budget (http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080414/POLITICS/804140339/-1/ARCHIVE)
Michigan runs one of the nation's largest and most costly prison systems, a $2 billion-a-year expense that is crowding out other spending priorities at a rate many officials fear the state can no longer afford.
The problem is reaching a crisis: Michigan's system is already the nation's sixth-largest overall, and ranks 15th among the states in the cost per inmate. It could exceed capacity within two months, said Chief Deputy Corrections Director Dennis Schrantz, unless lawmakers approve stop-gap measures, such as doubling the number of inmates in the state boot camp program.
The Corrections Department already devours 20 cents of every tax dollar in the state's general fund and employs nearly one in every three state government workers, compared with 9 percent of the work force 25 years ago.
Many criminologists believe that officers are a more cost-effective crime deterrent than long prison sentences. A 2007 report by the New York-based Vera Institute of Justice cites three studies indicating that a 10 percent increase in the size of a city's police force leads to reductions of 1.5 percent to 11 percent in crime rates.
Michigan became a leader in that so-called "war on crime," opening 15 new prisons between 1984 and 1990, 14 in the 1990s and two since 2000. It now operates 41 prisons and eight camps.
The number of inmates has mushroomed by nearly 400 percent since the build-up began, and today equals the combined populations of Ferndale, Mount Clemens and Harper Woods. Money spent to support the system has rocketed, too -- from $193 million in 1981 to $2 billion today. Even adjusted for inflation, that's more than a four-fold increase.
Michigan's incarceration rate is the nation's ninth highest and out of step with its Great Lakes neighbors. Only southern states and Missouri imprison a greater proportion of their residents.
"Even without further growth, we're choosing to keep putting 20 percent of the state's general fund into corrections, which means continuing cuts to higher education, revenue sharing and social programs that could prevent crime," said reform advocate Barbara Levine. "It's not the sort of investment that will make Michigan a desirable place to live and work."
Bulging prisons draining Michigan's budget (http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080414/POLITICS/804140339/-1/ARCHIVE)
Michigan runs one of the nation's largest and most costly prison systems, a $2 billion-a-year expense that is crowding out other spending priorities at a rate many officials fear the state can no longer afford.
The problem is reaching a crisis: Michigan's system is already the nation's sixth-largest overall, and ranks 15th among the states in the cost per inmate. It could exceed capacity within two months, said Chief Deputy Corrections Director Dennis Schrantz, unless lawmakers approve stop-gap measures, such as doubling the number of inmates in the state boot camp program.
The Corrections Department already devours 20 cents of every tax dollar in the state's general fund and employs nearly one in every three state government workers, compared with 9 percent of the work force 25 years ago.
Many criminologists believe that officers are a more cost-effective crime deterrent than long prison sentences. A 2007 report by the New York-based Vera Institute of Justice cites three studies indicating that a 10 percent increase in the size of a city's police force leads to reductions of 1.5 percent to 11 percent in crime rates.
Michigan became a leader in that so-called "war on crime," opening 15 new prisons between 1984 and 1990, 14 in the 1990s and two since 2000. It now operates 41 prisons and eight camps.
The number of inmates has mushroomed by nearly 400 percent since the build-up began, and today equals the combined populations of Ferndale, Mount Clemens and Harper Woods. Money spent to support the system has rocketed, too -- from $193 million in 1981 to $2 billion today. Even adjusted for inflation, that's more than a four-fold increase.
Michigan's incarceration rate is the nation's ninth highest and out of step with its Great Lakes neighbors. Only southern states and Missouri imprison a greater proportion of their residents.
"Even without further growth, we're choosing to keep putting 20 percent of the state's general fund into corrections, which means continuing cuts to higher education, revenue sharing and social programs that could prevent crime," said reform advocate Barbara Levine. "It's not the sort of investment that will make Michigan a desirable place to live and work."