Is the cost of imprisoning nonviolent offenders worth it to society?

[darknight1]

Sadly this is a problem that I don't see being fixed. Many parts of the country still adhere to this strict interpretation of "justice", in which every day thousands of nonviolent offenders and drug offenders are given incredibly draconian sentences for their crimes. There's so many ways courts nationwide could utilize that would help nonviolent offenders and drug offenders rather than just simply giving them a prison sentence for crimes that hurt nobody but themselves. Increased prison populations that are composed of mainly nonviolent offenders and/or drug offenders do nothing more than hurt both federal and state budgets. With many cities, counties, states and the national government grappling with what some call the "Great Recession", filling up prisons and jails with nonviolent offenders and drug offenders does nothing but hurt a government's budget. Put simply, paying for the services inmates receive, plus the cost of housing and feeding them, costs a lot. Obviously, housing nonviolent offenders and drug offenders is not worth the price. What do you all think?

[~Tszura~]

I agree. I think we could come up with some other work programs for the state, or something else whereby they could pay back the community for their crimes. A jail/prison sentence would have to be doled out at some point, however, if the offender didn't follow through on their non-prison sentence. I would hope, however, that if these kinds of programs were possible, that offenders would rather do volunteer work, and complete the other terms necessary rather than just say "awwww, F' it, I'd rather just do the time and be done with it."

We also have to remember that prison's/jails are big business that just keep getting bigger. They have more power on the state and federal levels than most of us realize, and they will not be quick to let go of any power.

[Scar My Machine]

"The private contracting of prisoners for work fosters incentives to lock people up. Prisons depend on this income. Corporate stockholders who make money off prisoners' work lobby for longer sentences, in order to expand their workforce. The system feeds itself," says a study by the Progressive Labor Party, which accuses the prison industry of being "an imitation of Nazi Germany with respect to forced slave labor and concentration camps."

The prison industry complex is one of the fastest-growing industries in the United States and its investors are on Wall Street. "This multimillion-dollar industry has its own trade exhibitions, conventions, websites, and mail-order/Internet catalogs. It also has direct advertising campaigns, architecture companies, construction companies, investment houses on Wall Street, plumbing supply companies, food supply companies, armed security, and padded cells in a large variety of colors."

Taken from this source..........Prisons for profits.

I have seen news stories on t.v. relating to this and they've said how the states (some states) have prison's that are privately owned. Those owners have stated that they make profit from building prisons. So imo, it makes sense that they would want more people locked up.

The whole system is fucked up.

[Hellion]

Give it time all taxpayers will be locked up,people have been thrown in prison for exposing the faults of the justice system and government,free country my azz,but when the invasion occurs (from the north)none of us will really have to worry about going to jail.

[n0Mad]

It would help if the powers that be could actually differentiate between a real crime, and a simple violation of a stupid law. If we got rid of the stupid laws, it would alleviate the latter and we could concentrate on real crimes.

[Shaun]

If its non-violent and your not taking somebody's shit then its not a crime in my opinion, so yeah. I don't get how turning prison's over to private industry ever sounded like a good plan though.

[2DamGiant]

OCJ is full. Non-Violent offenders are in and out. Its really a waste of time and really the fines are enough

[TygerLili]

I disagree that non-violent crimes don't hurt anyone but the person committing the crime. What about financial crimes, like fraud, or embezzlement? Those crimes don't physically hurt people, but they do in other ways. I think, for non-violent crimes, if you want to throw them in jail for 60-90 days to teach them a lesson, that's okay, but I agree that sentencing them to multiple years in prison at the expense of our tax dollars is silly and a waste of money. At that point, fines, public service, and mandatory counseling are more appropriate punishments/treatments.

[darknight1]

The thing is, for first time offenders who commit non-violent crimes, there's so many other options rather than just wasting more tax dollars on housing them, such as community service, psychiatric treatment, probation or something similar. With those who commit "white collar" crimes, their reputation is pretty much screwed once convicted of such things.

[Soulrev]

The thing is, for first time offenders who commit non-violent crimes, there's so many other options rather than just wasting more tax dollars on housing them, such as community service, psychiatric treatment, probation or something similar. With those who commit "white collar" crimes, their reputation is pretty much screwed once convicted of such things.

I agree. I think giving a first-time offender a D felony for possession of a controlled substance (with a 6 month jail sentence and 12 months of supervised probation) is a little harsh. The "harshest" part being, labeling someone a convicted felon, when they're a first-time offender, and all because of possession of a drug.

[candyman]

First of all you pay for your stupidity and I don't give a shit if it was a non-violent crime it is still something you should pay for if you are actually guilty. Secondly, this whole thing is a game and if you get caught that sucks for you even if you and your buddies don't think its wrong.

If we kept our prisons like they were before we would not have this problem. Stupid human rights groups ruining it for everyone...bullshit we are all equal!

[~Tszura~]

First of all you pay for your stupidity and I don't give a shit if it was a non-violent crime it is still something you should pay for if you are actually guilty. Secondly, this whole thing is a game and if you get caught that sucks for you even if you and your buddies don't think its wrong.

If we kept our prisons like they were before we would not have this problem. Stupid human rights groups ruining it for everyone...bullshit we are all equal!

I'm not saying that you would do this, but what happens if you have to pee reeeaaaaaaal bad, and take a leak on the side of the road because you don't want to pee your pants, and then get caught for "indecent exposure?" I believe if this happens three times, or something like that, you can get charged as a felony perp. I'm not making excuses for anyone as I have been on the receiving end of various crimes, but sometimes shit happens.