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.

Cost of Sentences

[This message was edited by MW on 09-20-10 at .]

Sentencing commissions are so very worried about the cost of incarceration, but never look to cut costs that would be completely painless to society. For example, de-commissioning Sentencing Commissions that are paid for by the taxpayer. Of course, those that are paid for by George Soros can continue to spout nonsense if they wish.

Here's another area to save money on prisons: open up the state hospitals again, and start taking in the people who can't take care of themselves. The de-institutionalization of the State Hospitals has been one of the most tragic mistakes in recent history. In 1970, I understand, Texas housed more mentally ill people in her state hospitals than she does today, even tho our population is much larger. Are there fewer seriously deranged people today than then? No. They just live on the street, committing crimes, and going to jail and prison, where they get beat up, and cost a great deal more than "normal" prisoners.

Of course, housing lunatics in state hospitals costs money too, but at least it would not be seen as the cost of law enforcement. Moreover, I suspect they could be housed for less money, and be better taken care of than they are when locked up in prison and jail. But for some reason, the people who tend to populate Sentencing Commissions never seem to worry about that.

Hmmm. Hypothetically, if confinement was the least expensive form of punishment, raise your hand if you believe that liberals would endorse it over probation. And, don't you imagine they would file a grievance against any judge who announced he chose prison over probation to save money?

Ah, the hypocrisy.

[This message was edited by JB on 09-21-10 at .]

Thomas Sowell is an economist I have great respect for. Here is his take. As usual, he hits the nail right on the head:

http://patriotpost.us/opinion/thomas-sowell/2010/09/22/penny-wise-on-crime/

Perfect. And too logical.

Editorial
The Denver Post

Weighing the cost of justice

Locking up criminals does cost money, but judges shouldn't have to worry about price tags when meting out sentences.

Posted: 09/24/2010 01:00:00 AM MDT

As state lawmakers around the country struggle to balance their budgets, the criminal justice system is becoming a target for cuts.

The state of Missouri, for example, recently started informing judges just how much their sentences will affect the public coffers.

Three years of prison? That will cost taxpayers $37,000, while probation would ring up just a $6,770 bill.

The idea of putting a specific price tag on justice, and dangling it in front of judges as they mete out punishment, makes us uncomfortable.

It's not because we think it's wrong to figure out ways of trimming court and prison costs. But we think judges ought to impose appropriate sentences without regard to cost. The financial questions ought to be considered, but that should be the job of legislators, who can adjust penalty statutes to take prison population trends and social mores into account.

Read the rest here.

Researchers calculate societal costs of five major crimes; finds murder at $17.25 million

A study of 654 convicted and incarcerated murderers calculated the costs to society of five crimes -- murder, rape, armed robbery, aggravated assault and burglary. They estimated murder to cost $17.25 million.

* * *

Expanding upon earlier monetization estimates, they calculated the costs of five crimes -- murder, rape, armed robbery, aggravated assault and burglary -- in terms of the victim costs, criminal justice system costs, lost productivity estimates for both the victim and the criminal, and estimates on the public's resulting willingness to pay to prevent future violence.

More: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/10/101006141604.htm

Well, if you put it like that, I guess it's no big deal after all ...

True Crime Costs

Does every murder in the United States really cost society $17 million?

By Annie Lowrey
Slate.com

[excerpt:] Still, the $17 million figure sounds high to Cohen. Why? Traditionally, willingness to pay is considered one yardstick for determining the cost of murder--an alternative and more comprehensive measure than the calculate-all-the-costs-and-add-them-up method. Adding them together is counting twice, he says. Cohen and other researchers generally estimate the price of murder at $10 million to $12 million--just the "willingness to pay" number.