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By Roger L. Wollenberg
UPI NEW YORK — On average, state taxpayers pay 14 percent more on prisons than corrections department budgets reflect, a U.S. non-profit center for justice policy said. A report by the Vera Institute of Justice, with offices in New York, Washington and New Orleans, found among the 40 states that responded to a survey, the total fiscal year 2010 taxpayer cost of prisons was $38.8 billion, or $5.4 billion more than in state corrections budgets for that year. Michael Jacobson, the institute's director, said when all costs are considered, the annual average taxpayer cost in these states was $31,166 per inmate.  Full Story: Hidden costs of U.S. prisons in billions |
