[umgud]

Tie them up to a treadmill/generator. No walk, no eat. Great excercise, keeps em out of trouble and they might generate enough juice to offset their cost of incarceration.

[EBUCK]

...Federal inmates is $21,601

So at 21,601 each we payed $15,120,700,000 (that's 15 billion, 120 million, 700 thousand dollars) last year to incarcerate pot smokers. Yeah-hooooooo. Great use of tax dollars if you ask me. (I know you didn't "ask" but I couldn't resist)

EBUCK

[ijcr]

MARICOPA COUNTY, Arizona (CNN) -- The tent city looks like a military camp in the desert, with thick canvas sleeping quarters spreading out in a remote area of Arizona.

The inhabitants, however, are not soldiers, but residents of an unusual, some say brutal, prison run by legendary lawman Joe Arpaio, called the toughest sheriff in the West.

For the Maricopa County sheriff, who opened the nation's largest tent prison in 1993, saving taxpayer pennies matters more than comforting convicted felons.

"We took away coffee, that saved $150,000 a year. Why do you need coffee in jail?" says Arpaio, patrolling the dusty, barren grounds. "Switched to bologna sandwiches, that saved half a million dollars a year."

Arpaio makes inmates pay for their meals, which some say are worse than those for the guard dogs. Canines eat $1.10 worth of food a day, the inmate 90 cents, the sheriff says. "I'm very proud of that too."

Critics rail against harsh conditions in the prison, where temperatures can top 100 degrees.

"We still have rights, but they act like we're scum," one inmate complains.

Adds Eleanor Eisenberg of the ACLU: "Sheriff Arpaio has conditions in his jail that are inhumane, and he's proud of it."

Arpaio boasts of his chain gangs for men and women, which "contribute thousands of dollars of free labor to taxpayers each month," according to his Web site.

[SauronOfMordor]

As far as habitual real criminals (burglers, muggers, armed robbers), the cost of having them on the street is higher than the cost of keeping them locked up. For some of them, a .45 bullet would be even cheaper

[antaresequity]

We should subcontract this out to the Mexicans...If would be criminals knew they would be spending time down on the old Stony Lonesome Hacienda, I bet they might think twice about committing their crimes...

[subrosa sam]

That's $21K per year.

[jackbill]

(excluding activation costs)

That's bureaucrat-speak for construction costs.

It's just another attempt by the government to cover their asses, just like they do with education. I assume that you all realize that when a city/county/state gives you the average cost per child for education, they exclude the "activation costs", that is, the construction costs, as well as the major repair costs.

[Stefan Stackhouse]

It costs considerably less to incarcerate them in a cemetary. A few bucks each year to keep the grounds mowed, I guess, though just scattering the ashes would be essentially free, and might even make some good fertilizer.

I see no good reason why people should be looked up for decades or for life. Secure the violent ones while they are awaiting trial, appeals, & execution -- all on an expedited fast track. Impose restitution, community service, & probation for the non-violent criminals. This would keep the non-violent ones from being trained to become violent ones, and would make them productive citizens instead of a net drain on society. The violent ones need to be eliminated, period. This needs to be done for the sake of the potential future victims, for no jail can be made 100% escape-proof.