Orange may be the new black, but a recent study by the Pew Charitable Trusts shows that over nearly two decades, prison garb became a necessary part of the wardrobe for a growing number of Georgians.
The question is whether that change in attire turned out best for the state.
Between 1994 and 2012, Georgia's rate of imprisonment grew 19 percent. That seems like a lot, but the national average over that time was 24 percent.
Growing prison populations were a response to record levels of violent crime in the early 1990s.
Helping feed that response were laws like the federal Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994. It increased prison sentences for federal crimes. States followed suit by stretching out the time behind bars for their own inmates, especially repeat offenders. Politicians liked to call it “three strikes and you’re out.”
It's a pricey solution. In fiscal 2013, for example, the cost per inmate in one of Georgia's state prisons was $19,345 a year. Depending on where a prisoner was in the criminal justice system, it could cost as much as $32,544 a year.
But at first glance, it appears the strategy worked. Georgia’s crime rate dropped 37 percent. The U.S. rate fell 40 percent.
Alas, it’s not that simple.
Take New Hampshire as an example. Like Georgia, its rate of imprisonment grew 19 percent. But a similar surge in prison population did not produce a similar decline in crime. New Hampshire’s crime rate fell only 8 percent. The prospect of a prison term doesn’t seem like much of a deterrent in the land of “Live Free or Die.”
It grows even more puzzling when you look at the five states where imprisonment rates fell the most:
- New York – incarceration down 24 percent; crime down 54 percent.
- New Jersey – incarceration down 15 percent; crime down 50 percent.
- California – incarceration down 9 percent; crime down 48 percent.
- Maryland – incarceration down 9 percent; crime down 47 percent.
- South Carolina – incarceration down 7 percent; crime down 27 percent.
Collectively, those states saw crime drop 45 percent, five points better than the national average.
Now, let’s look at the states where the rates of imprisonment grew the most:
- West Virginia – incarceration up 195 percent; crime up 6 percent.
- North Dakota – incarceration up 175 percent; crime down 18 percent.
- Idaho – incarceration up 103 percent; crime down 46 percent.
- Oregon – incarceration up 99 percent; crime down 45 percent.
- Wisconsin – incarceration up 92 percent; crime down 31 percent.
Together, they experienced a decline in crime of only 27 percent, 13 percentage points below the national average.
Experts who spoke with Pew said the results show that a lot of factors contributed to the decline in crime, not just more prison time. Their theories suggested that things like the stronger economy of the 1990s, shifts in demographics and a decline in the demand for crack all played a role.
As noted above, the longer sentences were a response to record crime. But priorities change, and now government spending is a huge issue.
That's why it's interesting to note that Pew's study ends at 2012. That's the same year Gov. Nathan Deal pushed through changes in criminal sentencing in Georgia in an effort to save taxpayers money by sending fewer people to prison. Data from the Georgia Department of Corrections show that the state paid $26.5 million to county jails in 2011 to house inmates it couldn't find room for in the state's crowded prisons. By 2013, those payments dropped to $3.8 million, a savings of $22.7 million.
So less orange helps the state stay in the black.
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