This is a controversial subject that many may not want to talk about. However, I do believe that offenders should have to pay for their upkeep and stay throughout prison. This includes all medical cost, doctor visits and medications that are taking. It is unfair that there are so many Americans who are jobless and are law abiding citizens, which are not eligible for benefits. Offenders are not law abiding citizens and do not deserve the right to free services. If you research a little into the cost of keeping these offenders locked up, it is outrages. “The annual costs per offender topped out at $175,000 in New York and $173,000 in California, and averaged $96,000 a year, about double what it would cost to send them to an Ivy League university. In some states, like Minnesota, sex offender treatment costs more than five times more than keeping offenders in prison. And those estimates do not include the considerable legal expenses necessary to commit someone.” (News, 2010) The amount of money being spent annual for each offender is more than I make in almost 5 years. I don’t even spend that much throughout the year as a citizen on myself. We shouldn’t make the citizens who abide by the laws suffer, while offenders are getting free shelter, food and medical cost. As a country, we really need to look at the overall picture of things.
