4/22/2011

California's high costs of prison

So why do you think that it costs almost three times more for prisoners in California than Texas? Do you think that it is the public employee unions in California? What incentive does it create for the Federal government to pay more for states that spend more?

The number of criminal aliens incarcerated in California rose to 102,795 in 2009, a 17 percent increase since 2003, federal auditors reported Thursday.

This isn't cheap. Nationwide, the Government Accountability Office reports, it costs well over $1.1 billion a year for states to imprison criminal aliens -- those who committed a crime after entering the United States illegally. California, moreover, is more expensive than other states. GAO auditors estimated California spends $34,000 to incarcerate a criminal alien for one year; in Texas, it's only $12,000.

The audit, requested by Rep. Zoe Lofgren, D-San Jose, will provide ammunition for states' perennial effort to secure more federal reimbursement dollars. . . .

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3 Comments:

Blogger Left Coast Conservative said...

How about an effort to deport more aliens before they become criminals, and thereby shrink the prison guard unions?

4/22/2011 2:56 AM  
Blogger Unknown said...

Also interesting is that the state prison population is just 166,556.

http://www.theinmatelocator.com/California.html

4/22/2011 7:11 AM  
Blogger Chas said...

"So why do you think that it costs almost three times more for prisoners in California than Texas?"

Markie Marxist sez: "My commie compadres in Commiefornia, being commies, are much nicer to our Marxist/warrior/hero/criminals than people in Texas. Those people in Texas are NOT good communists, but we can make them spend more of their money on our criminal compadres anyway with federal mandates. Totalitarianism is like that. The only choice we give people is the one we’ve chosen for them. Ha! Ha!"

4/23/2011 7:59 AM  

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