Pricey prisons

Editorial: Edmonton Journal

 

For decades, California has cracked down on crime, punishing offenders with textbook "tough" policies like mandatory minimums, "three strikes laws" and stringent parole. The result has been a steady and dramatic rise in the state's prison population. Today, about 167,000 adults are incarcerated in California. Offenders are now being locked up at a per-capita rate well over double what it was 30 years ago.

 

All those prisoners have cost the state's taxpayers dearly. In 1980 California spent about $1 billion on corrections. By 2007 that number had climbed to nearly $14 billion. Today about one in every nine dollars the state spends goes to prisons and prisoners.

 

It's no surprise then that prison expenses are cited as a major factor in California's deteriorating finances. Legislators are now trying to push through measures to cut the prison population. Whether they succeed may play a key role in deciding whether the state stays solvent.

 

Given the California example, it's remarkable how little attention has been paid in this country to the costs of dramatic changes being proposed for -- and in some cases already implemented to -- Canada's penal system.

 

A swath of Conservative justice bills have already passed the Commons once, despite MPs having little firm knowledge on how much they will cost. Most of those bills died when Stephen Harper prorogued Parliament earlier this year. But one -- Bill C-25, which will prevent convicts from claiming double credit for time served before trial -- has already been made law.

 

The government says that bill will cost $2 billion to implement. But they produced that figure only after reports Parliament's independent Budget Officer was ready to peg its true costs in the $7-10 billion range.

 

That the opposition Liberals voted for that measure without knowing how much it would cost does not speak highly of their watchdog credentials, or their current, more questioning posture. As for the Conservatives, they have repeatedly refused to provide a detailed costing of their justice agenda, which includes California-style mandatory minimums for some drug crimes. Until they do, debate on their bills should grind to a halt.

 

Before Canada goes down the California road, the government owes it to the taxpayers to show exactly what the tolls would be.