Tradeoffs: Incarceration in America

Does your state spend more on higher education or on prisons?

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1. How accurate was your prediction?

2. How surprised are you by this map?

3. What story does this map tell?

4. What is the story of spending in your state?

5. Why do you think different states make such different choices on incarceration and education spending?

6. What questions does this map raise for you?

7. Do you think of the higher incarceration spending states (darker) as the winners or losers?

8. What do you predict will be the fate of the darker states in 40 to 50 years?

9. "Every time the government incarcerates a person, they are paying them to neither work nor pay taxes." Do you agree or disagree with this statement, and what sort of people do you believe are dangerous enough to pay good money to keep off the streets?

10. Whenever a state spends money on one area, that's money it can't spend in another area (opportunity costs). The average cost of incarcerating a federal prisoner in fiscal 2011 was about $29,000, according to the latest figures from the Federal Bureau of Prisons. In my state (NC - whoop whoop!), the cost of inmate supervision averaged out to $27,000. What is something the government could buy for $29,000? Put your answer in the comments section below.

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Learning Extension

Watch this National Academies of Sciences video on incarceration.

Action Extension

There has been recent bipartisan support for reform of the U.S. penal system. In February of this year, The House Judiciary Committee approved by voice vote the Corrections and Recidivism Reduction Act (H.R. 759) to, "reform the federal prison system, strengthen public safety, enhance prison security, provide inmates the help they need, and protect civil liberties." Read the House report on their criminal justice reform initiative and then contact House Judiciary Committee Chair Jason Chaffetz with your opinion about incarceration. Share your correspondence with class.