There's a couple groups in Illinois saying that a select group of prisoners should be released. The group? People convicted of rape or murder who have served more than 30 years in prison and who are over 50 years old. The reason? Cost:Benefit. To wit:
-- It costs $75,000 per prisoner annually to house and feed and provide medical care
-- There are about 220 prisoners who meet the above "qualifications"
-- The recidivism rate for these prisoners (30+ years in, 50+ years old) is about 2%
So we're spending around $15 million a year to keep these people in when 98% of them don't pose a threat.
The flip side, of course, is that statistically four or five of them would commit new crimes after their release and the crimes they're in for aren't petty ones.
Not that I think these guys are getting any traction but do they have a point?