[goatwoodward]

Burlington Free Press.com |

Also, in the US overall, 1 out of every 100 people are in prison: Report: 1 percent of U.S. adults behind bars - CNN.com (http://www.cnn.com/2008/CRIME/02/28/prison.population.ap/index.html - broken link)

[Dwatted Wabbit]

Man, this is bad news.
I know the disasterous war on drugs has contributed to this mess, with pot smokers and other lightweights getting time along with really bad guys.
The increase in meth use doesn't help.
There has to be a better way to deal with this.
Perhaps a combination of Maricopa County, AZ and their tent city and baloney sandwiches, no tv, no coffee, etc. and probation/rehab for the nonviolent types.
This is bad for those who go to prison who don't need to, and bad for taxpayers who foot the bill.

[MRVphotog]

There is serious Bill to de-criminalize pot busts under 2 oz being debated right now in the state legislature to reduce the numbers in Vermont prisons.

[1luvvt]

they should outsource the very violent to a third world country.

[mustmove]

Vermont Tiger: Fraction = Numerator / Denominator
hmmm that seems to explain it. No need to stop locking up dirty hippy potheads.

[MRVphotog]

Vermont tops list of states that spend more on prison than college

Maybe if they built big cement walls surrounding every Vermont college, gun turrets, hired a security staff, install prison type security system and other prison type construction...then perhaps the college costs would be more on par with the cost of incarcerating a criminal.

The article also failed to mention that colleges have revenue(tuition/room/board) so the cost to the state is less. The article did mention that the stats are skewed as Vermont does not have county jails so all those incarcerated in Vermont are included in state stats.

[Dwatted Wabbit]

Originally Posted by MRVphotog

Maybe if they built big cement walls surrounding every Vermont college, gun turrets, hired a security staff, install prison type security system and other prison type construction...then perhaps the college costs would be more on par with the cost of incarcerating a criminal.

The article also failed to mention that colleges have revenue(tuition/room/board) so the cost to the state is less. The article did mention that the stats are skewed as Vermont does not have county jails so all those incarcerated in Vermont are included in state stats.

No county jails? That's odd. Do the cities have jails?

Why no county lockups?

[MRVphotog]

What cities? I assume there are county jails for short term holding.

[flu189]

Originally Posted by Dwatted Wabbit

No county jails? That's odd. Do the cities have jails?

Why no county lockups?

The relative volume of arrests to convictions and then to actual requirement for time served is very small in Vt. This is especially true for initial incustody/pre-trial as very few are detained due to very liberal cite/release and low and no bail. There are no petty offenders languishing in Vermont jails. Quite the opposite is true. My contacts in probation/parole actually confirmed what I already suspected, that there are quite a few folks running around out there that were it for most other states would be locked up. Just read our court dockets and be amazed at the low bail amounts, if there even is bail, on serious offenses and also involving multiple offenders. Then actually read the trial convictions and you will be even more amazed. Vermont has been pretty fortunate with low crime, but recent trends are showing an uptick, especially in out of state offenders. Add a rapidly souring economy and we will probably see fairly sustained increases. The bottom line, appreciate the folks that work in corrections, the vast majority of the public has absolutely no clue on the benefit to public safety the jails serve. The cost of running sub state level facilities in Vermont would not be sustainable. As it is now we are lucky that we can ship inmates to out of state facilities which saves a substantial amount of money.

[Dwatted Wabbit]

Originally Posted by flu189

The relative volume of arrests to convictions and then to actual requirement for time served is very small in Vt. This is especially true for initial incustody/pre-trial as very few are detained due to very liberal cite/release and low and no bail. There are no petty offenders languishing in Vermont jails. Quite the opposite is true. My contacts in probation/parole actually confirmed what I already suspected, that there are quite a few folks running around out there that were it for most other states would be locked up. Just read our court dockets and be amazed at the low bail amounts, if there even is bail, on serious offenses and also involving multiple offenders. Then actually read the trial convictions and you will be even more amazed. Vermont has been pretty fortunate with low crime, but recent trends are showing an uptick, especially in out of state offenders. Add a rapidly souring economy and we will probably see fairly sustained increases. The bottom line, appreciate the folks that work in corrections, the vast majority of the public has absolutely no clue on the benefit to public safety the jails serve. The cost of running sub state level facilities in Vermont would not be sustainable. As it is now we are lucky that we can ship inmates to out of state facilities which saves a substantial amount of money.

Thanks, good post that helps 'splain things.