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Missouri Tells Judges Cost of Sentences

By Real Cost of Prisons Project (The Sentencing Project)

Missouri Tells Judges Cost of Sentences By MONICA DAVEY Published New York Times: September 18, 2010 ST. LOUIS ? When judges here sentence convicted criminals, a new and unusual variable is available for them to consider: what a given punishment will cost the State of Missouri. For someone convicted of endangering the welfare of a child, for instance, a judge might now learn that a three-year prison sentence would run more than $37,000 while probation would cost $6,770. A second-degree robber, a judge could be told, would carry a price tag of less than $9,000 for five years of intensive probation, but more than $50,000 for a comparable prison sentence and parole afterward. The bill for a murderer?s 30-year prison term: $504,690. Legal experts say no other state systematically provides such information to judges, a practice put into effect here last month by the state?s sentencing advisory commission, an appointed board that offers guidance on criminal sentencing...continue to full post

Full post as published by The Real Cost of Prisons Weblog on September 21, 2010 (boomark / email).