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Will the 2008 Prez candidates ever seriously discuss modern incarceration realities?

By Douglas A. Berman

I have largely given up my hope that the 2008 presidential campaign will even give sustained attention to crime and punishment issues.  Nevertheless, this morning's front-page Washington Post article highlights how prison spending is not just a crime and punishment issue:Between 1987 and last year, states increased their higher education spending by 21 percent, in inflation-adjusted dollars, according to the Pew Center on the States.  During the same period, spending on corrections jumped by 127 percent.  In the Northeastern states, according to the Pew report, prison spending over the past 20 years has risen 61 percent, while higher education spending has declined by 5.5 percent.... Michigan has become one of the few states that actually spend more on prisons than on higher education -- about $2 billion for prisons, and $1...continue to full post

Full post as published by Sentencing Law and Policy on May 05, 2008 (boomark / email).