Why does it cost $31,000 a year to keep one person in prison?

Question

How can the goverment expect someone to live on minimum wage when it takes more than twice what someone would earn making minimum wage just to incarcerate one person?

Answer 1

Prisons are not luxurious hotels, and prisoners are not treated like kings for that money. Prisons are degrading, cruel and mostly just create better criminals.

Part of the money is an expensive facility, plus the guards, food, medical and rehab.

One problem is that we pay for ALL of that now compared to about 40 or 50 years ago when the inmates built there own prisons, they grew there own food, they made their own clothes, even alot of the guards where inmates. The amount of tax dollars to run a prison in this way is a tiny fraction of what it is now

It is a liberal idea to not make a prisoner support oneself. I am a liberal but i think its TOTTALY wrong to spend our tax dollars in this way.

Two things need to be done. One, they need to support THEMSELVES in every way possible, and two, we need to get all of the non-violent drug users OUT of there and cease making them better criminals and a burdan on society (in other word legalize recreational drugs and use the tax money to run the prisons!)

Answer 2

They have to give food, room, clothes, air conditioning, doctors, and pay a lot of money to  jail personal ... if  a person does not become a good person in jail and does the same  again  ... they should be sentenced to death , then  government would save a lot of money. and  killers would think a lot before  hurting somebody.

Answer 3

Cable TV and Serta Mattresses. It's absolutely ridiculous.  

Answer 4

They are humans. They need food, A/C, water, clothing, counseling, entertainment, etc. You cannot deprive a human of their essentials.

I agree that the minimum wage should be raised.

Answer 5

Well you should already know by now that the criminals are treated  better than the working folks remember?

They get to use the health care for the most part, they have to eat and they have there jump suits I think I don't know what they wear and guess I'll stay a working stiff and not find out how it is on the inside..lol

Answer 6

it's dat cheap, thought it was more, how much did u think 7  

Answer 7

All other answers seem to have it pretty much figured out for sure!!!  I really figured it was more ( maybe depending on state & type of prison.  But now the federal prisons, I would bet it would be much, much more.  Course with this, it would depend on the prisoners' name & background, and which 'resort' he went to!!!

Answer 8

Because people in prison have things like guards, who all have to be paid, and cooks to make the food, and janitors to clean their living areas.

If you had a cook, a bodyguard, and a maid, it'd cost that much for you to survive, too.