Your state needs to cut spending to balance the budget -

[hedgehog]

Poll question: Your state needs to cut spending to balance the budget -

what would be your preferred method:

[ZombieHorde]

1. I voted, "Parole every person now in state prison for non-violent drug offense,"

and then I recommended the poll.

[taterguy]

2. Other

Have smart, objective people review the budget and see where cuts can be made that won't impact services.

Also, consider higher taxes.

[hedgehog]

3. First of all, state government is all about services- schools,

hospitals, extended residential care facilities, roads, sewers, water systems, health departments, museums, libraries, health departments, law enforcement, etc etc etc.

Second, "consider higher taxes"?

You must have forgotten the :sarcasm: tag!

[elocs]

4. I have believed for decades that only violent criminals should be in prison.

Those who need to be separated from society for the protection of society. Here is Wisconsin prisons are the #2 budget item behind Medicaid costs.

From March 2009: http://www.jsonline.com/news/wisconsin/40581807.html

$3.42 vs. $78.95 per day

Nationally, it costs $3.42 a day on average to supervise an offender on probation, according to the report. By comparison, imprisoning an inmate costs $78.95 a day.

Wisconsin taxpayers spend more than $1 billion a year for the Department of Corrections. Nationally, prison, probation and parole costs top $47 billion a year, according to Pew.

Increased costs are attributable to a slew of tough-on-crime legislation that states adopted in the 1980s and 1990s, such as Wisconsin's truth-in-sentencing law.

The report said states could safely save money by putting more offenders on probation if they categorized them by risk to public safety, tracked more of them with devices linked to global-positioning satellites, quickly sanctioned those who broke rules, and created incentives for those who changed their behavior.

The article stated that from 1982-2009 that Wisconsin's incarceration rate quadrupled. In 1982 1 in 437 Wisconsinites was in prison or jail and by 2009 that had risen to 1 in 109. Clearly we cannot afford this any longer.

[cynatnite]

5. I think there are plenty of nonviolent people who deserve prison...

Enron excecs, bush, cheney, rumsfeld. I'm sure there are plenty of other nonviolent types I'm missing that deserve some serious prison time.

[bemildred]

7. Nah, they deserve to work at McDonald's.

And donate the money to their victims.

[elocs]

8. Then, where do you draw the line?

There are just as many people who would claim that those possessing illegal drugs should be in prison as well. Any of those you named would serve some very cushy prison time if any at all.

Looking for perfection? It doesn't exist.

[cynatnite]

9. It's not a clear line...

I do agree that there are a lot of minor drug offenses committed by nonviolent people that do not deserve prison. There are also drug dealers who have never committed a violent crime that will sell to children. There are stalkers who have never committed a violent crime who should be locked up.

It's not clear cut at all. Our laws are murky at times and individuals are prosecuted inconsistently.

[jillan]

6. Other - they need to cut their salaries before taking away benefits from the poor, disabled and

seniors.

Fuck them. It's personal.