Monday Map: Your Tax Dollars Go To Prison

Published August 10, 2009 @ 04:18PM PT

The chart below shows (approximately) the percentage of your tax dollars in each state that go to corrections. It's not exactly a map, but there's a map after the jump, I promise.

These numbers are hideous. Oregon spends more than 10% of its general fund on corrections. Vermont, Michigan, Oregon, Connecticut and Delaware spend more on corrections than on higher education. See your state below. And after the jump, the true data-heads can get a taste of the split between state and local spending on corrections.

Via the super-influential Pew Center on the States Report "One in 100 ."

As promised, here's the actual map - for the true wonk, an analysis of state vs. local corrections spending in each state. The percentages shown are the share of corrections spending taken on by the state, the remainder is spent by local jurisdictions - on jails, temporary sentences, holding cells and other expenses. Click here - or on the map - for more detailed data from Congressional Quarterly's Governing Sourcebook.

Share this Post

Comments (4)

as an economist i must say...jesus christ those numbers are way to high!

oregon immediately needs to end the prohibition on cannabis & HEMP. expedite this !! http://www.cannabistaxact.org/

california, vermont, colorado & nevada are all states that could really end the prohibition on cannabis & hemp too in the year 2010. the time is upon us. educate as many as you can about the irrationality of the war on these 2 plants & the POWS clogging our prisons and wasting our taxpayer dollars.

we need petitioners & signatures to help get this on the ballot in california. http://www.californiacannabisinitiative.org/

Posted by jeffrey C oldman on 08/11/2009 @ 12:34AM PT
- Report close
  You must be signed in to report content.
- Reply
- 2 people like this comment. Like
Well said Jeff! With 3 million prison beds in this country (and almost all already spoken for), when you consider that 25 million Americans used cannabis over the last year, you recognize we can NOT 'win' the War on Drugs, we don't have the prison space for it, NOR the money!

BUt prison costs are hidden, the police and DEA don't have to go ask for more, they just GET IT, because these are dangerous people, right? They MUSt be imprisoned for our safety, right?

Not when you also consider that 1/3 of today's inmates are there for non-violent drug crimes! of the $200 billion our corrections system costs us per year, approximately $67 billion of that is to house non-violent people who just wanted to use (or sell) drugs. Why are we spending SO MUCH telling others how to live their lives? Isn't this a free country, where you can make your own decisions, as long as you understand you have to live with the consequences?

Why do you want to give drug users free room and board? It's not like prison makes them no want drugs any more, in fact, after spending time in jail, people often come out better criminals! It's like college for crime!

The Department of Corrections is anything but, let's admit it. It's the Department of Punishment for the vast majority of inmates. Let's stop punishing those who have harmed no one but themselves.

Posted by Clayton Cleverly on 08/11/2009 @ 09:24AM PT
- Report close
  You must be signed in to report content.
- 2 people like this comment. Like
Reply to thread
For your comment to be published, you will need to confirm your email address after submitting your comment. In the process we will also create a Change.org account for you so you can track this and future conversations. Don't worry - we won't spam you. We just want to promote constructive dialogue and find that people are more respectful when they are not anonymous.

If you already have an account, click here to log in.

First Name:

Last Name:

Email:

Create Password:

reply to thread started by by jeffrey C
Check Spelling
- Email me when there are new posts to this thread
- Comment Policy
Cancel Reply
Wow - I'm proud to be a Minnesotan.

Posted by Marissa Pherson on 08/11/2009 @ 09:42AM PT
- Report close
  You must be signed in to report content.
- Reply
- 1 person likes this comment. Like
Reply to thread
For your comment to be published, you will need to confirm your email address after submitting your comment. In the process we will also create a Change.org account for you so you can track this and future conversations. Don't worry - we won't spam you. We just want to promote constructive dialogue and find that people are more respectful when they are not anonymous.

If you already have an account, click here to log in.

First Name:

Last Name:

Email:

Create Password:

reply to thread started by by Marissa
Check Spelling
- Email me when there are new posts to this thread
- Comment Policy
Cancel Reply
With more and more people graduating from law schools since the Civil Rights era of the 1960's, lawyers need career opportunities. A correlation exists between this and the increased incarceration rates; more things have to be criminalized to provide employment for all of the new law school graduates. The public seems oblivious to the increases in incarcerating (warehousing) poor people, the proliferation of lawyers, and the increases in taxes to pay for the incarceration (warehousing) of poor people.

Wrongful imprisonment is another factor that should be correlated with these other variables, something the U.S. Supreme kourt obviously doesn't want as evidenced by their recent ruling denying inmates the right to DNA testing to prove their innocence/wrongful imprisonment. The CRIMINAL JUST US system wants to deceive the public into believing that it makes no mistakes and that all inmates who have been convicted in a court of law can't possibly be innocent.

Posted by Jeffrey Hill on 08/11/2009 @ 01:33PM PT
- Report close
  You must be signed in to report content.
- Reply
- Like
For your comment to be published, you will need to confirm your email address after submitting your comment. In the process we will also create a Change.org account for you so you can track this and future conversations. Don't worry - we won't spam you. We just want to promote constructive dialogue and find that people are more respectful when they are not anonymous.

If you already have an account, click here to log in.

First Name:

Last Name:

Email:

Create Password:

reply to thread started by by Jeffrey
Check Spelling
- Email me when there are new posts to this thread
- Comment Policy
Cancel Reply

Add a Comment

For your comment to be published, you will need to confirm your email address after submitting your comment.

If you already have an account, click here to log in.

First Name:

Last Name:

Email:

Create Password:

Comment

Check Spelling

Email me when there are new posts to this thread
Comment Policy

Comments on Change.org are meant for further exploration and evaluation of the ideas covered in the posts. To that end, we welcome constructive comments. However, we reserve the right to delete comments that are offensive, abusive, or off-topic; that contain ad hominem attacks; or that are designed to subvert or hijack comment threads rather than contribute to them. Repeat offenders may be permanently removed from the site at our discretion.

Author

Matt has worked and volunteered in various capacities in criminal justice reform for several years. When he's not blogging, he works as the Online Communications Manager at the Innocence Project. Views expressed here are Matt's, and don't represent the positions of the Innocence Project.