A new study by the Pew Research Center suggests a need for reform in the nation's correctional programs, highlighting a growing number of people under correctional control and the rising cost to states.
According to a report released Monday, one in 31 adults in the United States is currently under some sort of correctional control, compared to one in 71 adults 25 years ago.
In Wisconsin, spending on corrections has increased from $557 million in 1997 to $1.08 billion in 2008, according to the report. In addition, one in 39 Wisconsin adults is under correctional control, the majority of whom are not in prison but are on parole or probation.
Of the $1.08 billion spent in Wisconsin in 2008, only $174 million went toward probation and parole. According to the report, these supervision programs cost significantly less than incarceration and decrease the rate of repeat offenders.
The report recommends measures for states to help avoid prison expansion for punishing prisoners, including basing a prisoner's punishment on his or her risk to public safety.
""There always will be a need for prisons to house violent criminals who pose a threat to public safety, but the Pew Center's report reaffirms that we need to invest in strategies beyond prison expansion to curtail corrections spending and reduce recidivism,"" Department of Corrections Secretary Rick Raemisch said in a statement.
DuJuan Walker, who is on the board of directors for the group Prison Action Wisconsin, said a major reason for the skyrocketing costs of corrections is the fact that many prisoners are being ""recycled"" into prison because of small parole violations.
The report also shows a racial disparity in the corrections system, with 9.2 percent of black adults, 3.7 percent of Hispanic adults and 2.2 percent of white adults under correctional control nationally.
Gov. Jim Doyle's recently announced budget plan includes a proposal to release some nonviolent felons from prison into rehabilitation programs early as one way to cut spending on corrections and combat the state's projected $5.9 billion budget deficit.
Kimberly Liedl, spokesperson for state Senate Minority Leader Scott Fitzgerald, R-Juneau, said Fitzgerald is very concerned about the potential effect on public safety from the early release of felons, as well as the governor's plan to discontinue the GPS tracking of some sex offenders in the state.
""There are ways to try to balance our budget other than cutting corrections and putting the safety of the public at risk,"" Liedl said.
