Albo v. Webb: Who's The Big Government Spender?

The Virginian Pilot, ran this editorial on November 26, 2007 regarding some of Del. Dave Albo's recent comments about criminal justice reforms:

Prison Spending Getting Out of Hand
Most people are willing to pay a lot to be safe.  But how much are they prepared to shell out to give an ex-con his come-uppance when he flunks a drug test?

Virginia spends about $23,000 annually to house an inmate in a state prison. In the case of violent, repeat offenders, that's money well spent. But the benefits get shaky when cells are crammed full of petty offenders and parolees struggling to overcome their addictions.

Two new reports underscore the need for state and national leaders to find more economical ways to punish minor lawbreakers.  A national study by eight university criminologists documented 2.2 million inmates being housed in federal and state prisons and local jails, an eight-fold increase since 1970.  In Virginia, legislative analysts counted 1,185 people incarcerated in the state for technical parole violations, primarily failed drug and alcohol tests.  To put that in perspective, lawmakers this year appropriated $100 million for a new 1,000-bed prison. It will cost more than $20 million annually to operate.

State budget analysts have offered two suggestions to free up 900 beds by easing time for minor parole violators. One reduces prison sentences for parole violators who agree to go through drug treatment. The other expands diversion programs, which allow inmates freedom during the day to work, with some of their earnings used to pay for their upkeep.

Those ideas were met with skepticism from some legislators. Del. David Alboof Fairfax warned last week that reduced sentences would give the appearance that "we are soft on crime."

Perhaps, but state corrections officials estimate they'll need to build a new prison every year for the next six years if the inmate population continues to increase at the current rate. Financially, that can't be sustained.  Virginians want tough-on-crime policies. But that doesn't mean they've handed the General Assembly a blank check for new prisons.  Editorial, Prison Spending Getting Out of Hand, Virginian Pilot (Nov. 26, 2007).

Perhaps Del. Albo should listen to Virginia's U.S. Senator Jim Webb:

Over the course of the period from the mid-1970s until today, the United States has embarked on one of the largest public policy experiments in our history, yet this experiment remains shockingly absent from public debate: the United States now imprisons a higher percentage of its citizens than any other country in the world. 

  In the name of "getting tough on crime," there are now 2.1 million Americans in federal, state, and local prisons and jails -- more people than the populations of New Mexico, West Virginia, or several other states. Compared to our democratic, advanced market economy counterparts, the United States has more people in prison by several orders of magnitude.  Opening Statement of Senator Jim Webb to Joint Economic Committee Meeting (Oct. 4, 2007).

So who is the "big government spender" here and who is the small government conservative?  Who is being thoughtful and careful about public policy choices and who is trying to score cheap political points by appealing to base human instincts?

You decide.

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