I did a little research... still researching... and found some interesting and frustrating things out. The order to increase health care spending on prisoners came from the supreme court. The story is that the state was mandated to release 46,000 prisoners due to overcrowding. It has been established by a law firm in Berkeley that The prisoners rights by the 8th amendment are being violated and that the lack of health care is "cruel and unusual punishment" The fed's answer was to release 46,000 inmates, but the state's response is to instead, increase the spending on health care for the state's prisons, stating the fed's do not run state prisons. I'm still reading... but this law firm in Berkeley is really upsetting. You know what that town needs? An Earthquake and subsequent fire. Those Lawyers are so dense, they think they're protecting prisoners and youth, but really they're allowing prisons to stay overpopulated by increasing the chances for young people to get into trouble instead of getting an education. It's even more upsetting to see their website claiming to be a "nonprofit, tax exempt firm." See More
http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Justice/2010/1130/California-at-Supreme-Court-fights-judicial-order-on-prison-overcrowding
www.prisonlaw.com and the director is Donald Specter
Although roughly 40% of the state budget is dedicated to education, the state spends only $7,500 per pupil, and $47,000 per inmate. California has the most students of any other state, and has 2 million students more than the next largest Texas. Yet, California is about $2,200 below the national average per pupil spending in education. On the other hand, California is at the very top of spending for prisons by a gap of $6.3 billion. California 2008 general funds for corrections spending was at 9.6 billion, while Texas and Florida trailed for 2nd and 3rd highest spending at 2.9 and 2.8 billion respectively. (Keep in mind that we are about 5th in the percentage of general fund spending since California has(had) more money in its general fund than the other states in 2008.)
**This information came from http://www.examiner.com/k-12-in-san-francisco/california-spends-7-500-per-student-and-a-whopping-47-000-per-prisoner-you-do-the-math
And from searching "national average per inmate spending" and opening the first PDF document that comes up, which happens to be a very interesting study on corrections reform.
Another note, another argument: California's prison population is 11% illegal aliens. That is about 19,000 of the 170,000 individuals incarcerated in the states prison system. http://www.sacbee.com/2010/05/23/2770397/just-the-facts-whitman-overstates.html
The bottom line is that we are spending way too much money on prisoners and not enough on our students. Does anybody realize that if we are proactive and give our students the best chance at success while their minds are still young, and teach them how to be productive upstanding citizens, we won't lose so many of them in the future to crimes that land them in the prisons?! Obviously there must be a correlation of educating and empowering children to make good decisions in life, instead of tossing them aside and then paying for them later when they land themselves in prison. Come on people... education before incarceration. It's that simple.
-Caitlin Dalby
I can not agree more with you....The system is broken, totally out of whack and out of touch with reality.... This is just one of thousands of things that prove we are on the verge of collapse a...nd it is really scary. No one in their right mind would release 46,000 inmates in a bankrupt system, where there is no way for them to find work much less feed themselves, so we all know where that leads. Right?
ReplyDeleteThis law firm should have to spend some time in prison with these guys and see if they still feel the same... It looks like more taxpayers dollars will be paying for them down the road if they win this ridiculous lawsuit... When total mayhem breaks out, there won't be enough places to house criminals.
Since the inception of KickStart Kids almost 20 years ago, this fact (not an argument) has been part of our over all purpose... We know that by investing a few hundred dollars a year on a childs' education and character development will not only give them the tools to lead a productive life it will keep taxpayers from having to pay approximately $50,000 a year to keep them incarcerated. www.kickstartkids.org
The math and results are obvious and speak for themselves. Unfortunately, prevention has been an area that most choose to not face, until things like this come to a head. Problem is, there is just no more money. Period.. The whole system is completely bankrupt, from various reasons to greed, mismanagement, corruption, high taxes, excessive regulations, out sourcing business to other countries,
welfare/nanny state entitlements etc..... and the list goes on.. Until each human being from top to bottom takes personal responsibility to do their part in cleaning up this mess and paying off our debt and shows honest intentions and actions we are on our way to the likes of Greece etc.... We are so entangled with the rest of the economic world that it is not looking good...
We will take all this information and create an article around it... It needs to be shared, especially for the innocent citizens that don't see the danger that is lurking at their door step... God help our children, us
and our country.
I love you sweet Caitlin and thank God for you and the tremendous heart you have... Keep up the great work. Take care and love to all.
Love you always,
Auntie Gena