Infographic: How Overpriced Are Basic Necessities in Prison? (2024)

FAQs

Why is it so expensive to keep people in prison? ›

Medical care is one area of increased spending where the state, under court order, is trying to improve prison conditions. The average cost per person for medical care has more than doubled in the past 10 years, and total health care spending by the corrections department has increased by about 67%.

“Commissary vendors tend to be smaller operations than the big box stores in the community and as such, are likely to procure the goods at a higher price, have a smaller inventory, and in turn, have slightly higher prices.”

Hidden jail costs typically fall into six categories: employee benefits, inmate health care, capital costs, administrative costs, legal costs, and inmate services. The largest jail costs are those associated with personnel.

The overcriminalization of drug use, the use of private prisons, and low-paid or unpaid prison labor are among the most contentious issues in the criminal legal system today because they inspire moral outrage.

Depending on what the inmate is buying, $20 a month is a low amount. That being said, $20 is still better than nothing and if it's for simple items like hygiene or stamps, it may be enough. Anything will help. Many will know how to turn that $20.00 into whatever he/she needs-wants.

So, what do they need money for? A lot, it turns out. Prisons typically provide the bare minimum when it comes to food, clothes, shoes and hygiene supplies. Some states provide items such as toothpaste, soap and limited amounts of letter-writing supplies only to the “indigent,” or those who have little to no money.

You might expect to pay one or two dollars for a travel-sized hygiene product. But, if you're incarcerated in a California state prison, a single package of Top Ramen purchased from the canteen is almost $1, according to canteen price lists from San Quentin.

It's often impossible for incarcerated people — who earn between 8 and 37 cents an hour — to afford these prices. At California State Prison Solano, toothpaste costs $4.45 (compared to the market rate of $1.38), a markup of over 200% that could require 37% of an incarcerated person's monthly income.

They noted that commissaries generated a profit of $108 million in 2021, adding “that is $108 million out of our military families pockets.”

Inmates may have to pay for health care

The law mandates that incarcerated people receive health care, but that doesn't mean it's free. Most facilities require copays.

What states don't pay prisoners? ›

Texas is one of the four states in the United States that does not pay inmates for their labor in monetary funds, with the other states being Georgia, Arkansas, and Alabama.

Prison overcrowding is one of the key contributing factors to poor prison conditions around the world. It is also arguably the biggest single problem facing prison systems and its consequences can at worst be life-threatening at best prevent prisons from fulfilling their proper function.

Correctional facilities in Norway focus on maintaining custody of the offender and attempting to make them functioning members of society. Norway's prison system is renowned as one of the most effective and humane in the world.

Many people believe that the death penalty is more cost-effective than housing and feeding someone in prison for life. In reality, the death penalty's complexity, length, and finality drive costs through the roof, making it much more expensive.

Publication Highlights. The annual cost, per incarcerated individual, averaged $47,057 in the 35 jurisdictions that responded to Vera's survey.

Research shows that incarceration can actually increase the likelihood of future crimes by traumatizing people before releasing them back into their communities. If the goal is public safety, punishing people behind bars isn't the answer.

College students aren't the only ones facing room and board charges. So-called “pay-to-stay” statutes administered by city, county and state governments across the United States leave millions of incarcerated individuals — both past and present — subject to the partial or total cost of their imprisonment.