Our Prison Disaster

For $30,000 a Year, We Need to get More for Our Money

Our prison system (like most things in our country) is a mess and it costs us a fortune with little/nothing to show for our investment in the people we imprison. Long prison sentences for drug offenses, especially users and non-violent crimes, should not occur - it is useless and expensive.

The focus of our prisons should not be to simply lock someone away. We cannot lock someone up for years (decades) and expect them to magically become a functioning member of the outside world. We spend $30,000 a year for each prisoner, so we should insure that when they are released they have the skills and knowledge that enable them to choose if they want to move forward with their life, or return to the same behavior that sent them to jail/prison. Currently, released prisoners have little if any new skills that prevent them from falling backwards.

I believe that a very small step is to allow all prisoners vote. To become a contributing member of our society (the outside world), they need to feel that they are member. There is massive resistance to change - entire communities are built around the prison industry. To change opinions, we need to show the huge, and increasing, costs of doing nothing. We need to show that prison reform will improve our society.

I have researched the governors authority to reduce these ridiculously long prison sentences for drug and non-violent crimes and have not found any reason that prevents it. While there are tens-of-thousands of these cases in FL, I see no reason why they cannot be addressed quickly - a few months.