The Price of Punishment: Public Spending for Corrections in New York

Despite the intensity of the national debate concerning control and correctional policies, neither the costs of existing agencies nor of alternative approaches are adequately understood. Accurate figures are not reported to private citizens or public officials, and spending is fragmented among different agencies and governing units. This study presents a comprehensive description and analysis of how much money was actually spent in New York in 1977–1978, at all levels of government, for each of the control systems that incarcerate or supervise criminal offenders/defendants. After a broad overview of criminal justice spending, it details spending for prisons, jails, probation, and parole; evaluates the services provided by these public expenditures; and discusses proposals for alternative penal policies and their fiscal implications. The book concludes with recommendations for improved government cost accounting, as well as suggestions for broader penal reforms. Although restricted to an analysis of New York, the findings and recommendations are broadly relevant to other regions of the country.