Since the legislation for this sentencing was passed in the 1980s, the federal prison population has multiplied almost ten times. The cost of housing these prisoners is a burden that we as tax payers have to shoulder. Almost $70 billion dollars is spent annually on the prison system. Since the introduction of sentencing structures like the three strike rule, state spending has increased almost 300 percent. All of this money could be better spent elsewhere. Imagine using just a percentage of these costs on education, public works, beautification, art, or scientific research. Instead of investing so much money into putting Americans in prison we could invest money into our job sector to ensure that less Americans are unemployed and have money to reinvest into our
Since the legislation for this sentencing was passed in the 1980s, the federal prison population has multiplied almost ten times. The cost of housing these prisoners is a burden that we as tax payers have to shoulder. Almost $70 billion dollars is spent annually on the prison system. Since the introduction of sentencing structures like the three strike rule, state spending has increased almost 300 percent. All of this money could be better spent elsewhere. Imagine using just a percentage of these costs on education, public works, beautification, art, or scientific research. Instead of investing so much money into putting Americans in prison we could invest money into our job sector to ensure that less Americans are unemployed and have money to reinvest into our