The pattern is set when they first start through the joke of a juvenile justice system that pats them on the hand and tells them not to do it again...oh, say 10 or more times before they start to punish them with community service..playing basket ball with under previliged kids, or picking up some trash at the most.
A burglar is not a violent criminal but he commists dozens of burglaries a year usually about $3,000 per household....YOUR insurance goes up as a result of all these burglaries. Same goes for a car thief and your car ins goes up as a result.
Each court appearance cost about $5,000.
One case in Memphis I happened to hear while waiting for my son's killer to be tried...Your honor my client is NOT in your court because he is in judge so and so court downstairs. This 1 criminal tied up two judges, two prosecutors and two defense lawyers.
About 40% of the cost of prison is prisoner AMENITIES according to John Diliulio.
There is a Reader's Digest (1994) article "Why Must our Prisons be RESORTS" it details the "goodies" our prisoners enjoy. Your blood will boil when you read about these goodies which include conjucial visits which produce a few more welfare babies for you to support.
READER'S DIGEST NOVEMBER 1994 BY ROBERT JAMES BIDINOTTO MUST OUR PRISONS BE RESORTS?
Mercer Regional Correctional Facility is a complex of tidy brick buildings situated in the rolling countryside of western Pennsylvania. From a distance, a visitor might mistake this state prison with its manicured green lawns for one of the nearby liberal arts colleges.
In his office, Superintendent Gilbert Walters explains that Mercer's 850 convicted felons "aren't evil, by and large. Many just did not have good life circumstances and have reacted inappropriately." Walters, who began his career in counseling and refers to the inmates as "clients," tries to make the prison experience "as much like the street as I can."
It's hard to imagine that, for most of Mercer's "clients," life outside could be this good. One of the three full time "activities directors" shows me the Recreation Building. "Nothing cheap here," he says proudly, pointing out the full sized basketball court, hand ball area, punching bag and volleyball net. There are enough barbells to "bulk up" 15 criminals at a time; others can use weight lifting machines. Nine electronic exercise bicycles and four stair type aerobics machines face a TV, all part of the Leisure Fitness Program. Outside, the men can play softball and sharpen their tennis skills. Emotional problems? Five psychologists and ten counselors are there for Mercer's "clients."
Housing about a third of the inmates are two dormitories with 8x10 foot "rooms" (not cells) equipped with desks and bookshelves. As we enter one room, a chubby, middle aged man turns down the volume on his TV set. This housing unit, the guide says, shelters a "peer group" with "special needs"" largely rapists and child molesters. Mercer is not an exceptional institution; it is, in fact, typical. A nationwide Reader's Digest survey shows that in most prisons, felons have access to a startling array of creature comforts.
*Hard labor is out, physical fitness is in. From aerobics to strength training to boxing, today's thugs and armed robbers can return to the streets bigger, stronger and faster than ever. *When they're tired of working out, they can join theater groups, take music lessons or college courses--all for free. Or they can tune in the latest R-rated movies. *The overall cost of these prison amenities is soaring. They take up a huge portion of state correctional budgets, while thousand of violent criminals are released each year for lack of space. Inside New York's maximum security Attica prison, which houses many of the Empire State's most violent felons, there is an incongruous sight: three small white buildings, which some staffers call "the hotel." Here, a counselor schedules up to 18 inmates per week for sex with their wives. New York offers such facilities for so called private family visits at 14 of its prisons. In seven other states, including Washington, and New Mexico cottages, trailers, mobile homes, even tents are used.
End excerpt
When the inmates a few years ago rioted in Memphis at a federal prison, they did several million dollars in damage to the facility. They destroyed their MUSIC instruments in the process. We the TAXSERFS had to REPROVIDE them..at the tune of $2,500 per month (to avoid the bidding process) over a several month time frame. When the inmates as Shelby Co Jail rioted they damaged the facility to the tune of couple of million bucks...BUT they didn't touch their precious TVs.