The Growing Costs to Taxpayers of Mass Incarceration

• In Event: Re-Imagining a More Effective, Cost-Efficient Justice System

Abstract

The rate at which individuals are incarcerated in this country is alarming for a host of reasons, one of these being the price tag of American jails and prisons. While the cost per inmate varies by locality, the Vera Institute of Justice reported in a 2012 study that the total cost to taxpayers for the prison population alone was $39 billion among 40 states surveyed, with an average annual cost of $31,286 per inmate (FY 2010). Policymakers must realize that the increasing scale of incarceration is financially unsustainable. In this paper, we explore what factors are driving the high costs of crime and incarceration, as well as the financial impact on taxpayers. Specifically, we address entities and policies that contribute to these costs throughout the system, from arrest to reentry, and examine some of the existing challenges to reducing costs. Additionally, we discuss whether the “average” taxpayer is cognizant about how mass incarceration impacts his/her wallet and at what point this taxpayer prefers to vote for policies that favor alternative sentencing over incarceration. Our paper focuses on New York City where the costs of incarceration are notoriously high.

Author

• Shaun Edwards, CUNY Institute for State and Local Governance