STATES SPEND SIX TIMES AS MUCH ON PRISONS AS ON HIGHER EDUCATION

For the first time in history, more than one in every 100
American adults is in jail or prison, according to a new report
tracking the surge in inmate population and urging states to
rein in corrections costs with alternative sentencing programs.
The report by the Pew Center on the States, said the 50 states
spent more than $49 billion on corrections last year, up from
less than $11 billion 20 years earlier. The rate of increase for
prison costs was six times greater than for higher education
spending, the report said.


Using updated state-by-state data, the report said 2,319,258
adults were held in U.S. prisons or jails at the start of 2008 -
one out of every 99.1 adults, and more than any other country in
the world. The steadily growing inmate population "is saddling
cash-strapped states with soaring costs they can ill afford and
failing to have a clear impact either on recidivism or overall
crime," said the report.

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