Thursday, October 19, 2006
JAIL PRICE TAG IN CHARLESTON COUNTY: $101 MILLION
An article in the Post and Courier indicates that "[w]ith the Charleston County jail population reaching record highs this week, county officials are left with little room to put off an expansion project that could top $101 million."
We wonder if anyone has considered the makeup of the jail population and whether there are ways to reduce costs. For example, could the inmates be processed, and bonded out, more quickly? Are most of the inmates fathers who are behind in their child support obligations, or are most of the inmates violent convicts who need to be lock downed?
We are of the view that unnecessarily criminalizing people is an ineffective and costly way of running a prison system
An article in the Post and Courier indicates that "[w]ith the Charleston County jail population reaching record highs this week, county officials are left with little room to put off an expansion project that could top $101 million."
We wonder if anyone has considered the makeup of the jail population and whether there are ways to reduce costs. For example, could the inmates be processed, and bonded out, more quickly? Are most of the inmates fathers who are behind in their child support obligations, or are most of the inmates violent convicts who need to be lock downed?
We are of the view that unnecessarily criminalizing people is an ineffective and costly way of running a prison system
