This week we discussed plea bargaining in my seminar.  I asked students whether they thought that the cost of imprisonment should be a factor in plea negotiations.  I posed this question after Sunday’s New York Times reported that Missouri is the first state in the country that requires  judges be given information about the costs of imprisonment and probation for each case before they sentence defendants.  This fairly new requirement in Missouri seems to be a response to the fact that imprisonment is expensive and the hope that it might encourage less expensive sentences.  Most states are struggling with how to balance their budgets in the current economy.  This is a change from what was happening in the 1980s and 1990s when the prison populations in this country soared.  It was during that period that laws were changed around the country calling for greater sentences, such as the three strike laws.   There was also seemingly unlimited public funding for large scale prison construction.  Now, however, states are struggling to meet the costs of imprisoning large numbers of people, many of whom are aging and therefore cost much more both in terms of specialized housing and health care needs. 

So, I asked my students, should this matter?  Their initial reaction was “no” it is irrelevant to the charges and to the individual offender.  They seemed to think that the best approach was a very individualized one that did not take into consideration larger societal concerns like the costs.   I gave some additional statistics:  between 1986-2000 the state of Texas increased public spending for education by 47%.  In that same period Texas increased spending on corrections by 346%.  We had previously talked about the imprisonment rates in the United States, which are the highest in the world, and the fact that Texas is second only to Louisiana in imprisonment rates in the country.  Clearly plea bargaining negotiations do not occur in a vacuum.  The rest of society does pay for the outcome—and many states are facing tough questions about what spending will be cut particularly if prison spending continues at the same rates. 

I look forward to more states following Missouri’s lead and requiring prison and probation cost information along with the other information judges, prosecutors, and defense attorneys routinely receive to help them make better informed decisions about how to handle criminal cases.  Perhaps if more people understand the very real and direct costs, it might be easier to agree to other alternatives such as those provided by drug courts or restorative justice. 

The discussion was lively in class–but most of my students remained unconvinced that cost should be a factor in plea negotiations. 

The New York Times article is available at: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/19/us/19judges.html?_r=1