"Does prison pay?" Revisited.

A 1994 prisoner self-report survey showed that prison pays for most state prisoners. This statement holds true for violent or repeat offenders who pose a real danger to communities. The prison system, however, does not pay for all convicted prisoners, especially drug felons. The study also revealed that the public could benefit more if around 10%-25% of prisoners are released from custody altogether or are taken into some other form of correctional supervision.

Returning to the Crime Scene

Several years ago, in these pages, we tried to referee an acrimonious debate betwee