密歇根新闻广播 :监狱占预算太多,密歇根州打算关掉几个

What's being called a major battle over the state's prison budget is taking shape in Lansing. To save money, John Proos, the chair of the relevant state senate subcommittee, wants to close two prisons, and lease and operate a now-private prison in Baldwin.

However, those who run the Department of Corrections don't want to close any of the state's 35 prisons, and say they need them in case the state prison population ever rises again.

Michigan had more than 51,000 inmates¹ nine years ago, but that number has declined by almost 10,000 over the last decade. That's largely because violent crime has declined, and because we are less willing to sentence people to long prison terms for small amounts of drugs.

Who says there isn't any good news? Still, 40,000 prisoners is more than twice as many as 30 years ago—and is a huge drain on state resources, costing us more than $2.2 billion a year, far more than the state spends on higher education. If I wanted to be nasty, I could say that Michigan places a higher priority on locking people up than on educating them.

Naturally, I'd never be the least bit sarcastic² about state government. But I would tend to support closing two prisons and using the money saved—about $15 million—to make badly needed repairs in other badly aging prison buildings. On the other hand, I think the legislature is wrong and fundamentally cruel in opposing money the governor has requested for a new drug to cure some cases of Hepatitis C, which is rampant³ in prisons.

However, having said all that, this entire discussion misses the point. Michigan doesn't need to save nickels and dimes⁴ in our corrections system; we need fundamental sweeping⁵ reform.

Basically, as any real non-political expert on prisons will tell you, we need to concentrate on locking up, as the saying goes, only those people we are legitimately⁶ afraid of, not all the ones we are mad at. Nor do we need to keep inmates locked up who may have been a threat to society in 1957, but who are now running up tremendous costs in geriatric medical care.

We are paying far more for corrections than other nearby states, and there are all sorts of reasons why. We sentence inmates to longer terms, and make them wait longer for parole. A Bridge Magazine study last year found 11 inmates in the slam just for using marijuana.

Locking them up costs us $35,000 each per year. We could send them to college more cheaply. Two years ago, there was a growing bipartisan move for serious prison reform. The Lansing-based group CAPPS, Citizens' Alliance on Prisons and Public Spending, put forth⁷ a reasonable blueprint⁸ for cutting the prison population by another 10,000 inmates.

But any efforts at reform were torpedoed⁹ by Attorney General Bill Schuette, who wants to run for governor, and evidently feels it important to look tough on crime.

Thanks to that attitude, we go on paying tens of millions every year in health care costs for hundreds of inmates in their seventies and eighties, and not properly fixing our roads. There are indeed words for such priorities.

But irrational¹⁰ is the only one I can say on the radio.

Jack¹¹ Lessenberry is Michigan Radio's political analyst¹². Views expressed in his essays are his own and do not necessarily reflect those of Michigan Radio, its management or the station licensee, The University of Michigan.

1 inmates   

n.囚犯( inmate的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• One of the inmates has escaped. 被收容的人中有一个逃跑了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The inmates were moved to an undisclosed location. 监狱里的囚犯被转移到一个秘密处所。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 sarcastic   

adj.讥讽的，讽刺的，嘲弄的

参考例句：

• I squashed him with a sarcastic remark.我说了一句讽刺的话把他给镇住了。
• She poked fun at people's shortcomings with sarcastic remarks.她冷嘲热讽地拿别人的缺点开玩笑。

3 rampant   

adj.(植物)蔓生的；狂暴的，无约束的

参考例句：

• Sickness was rampant in the area.该地区疾病蔓延。
• You cannot allow children to rampant through the museum.你不能任由小孩子在博物馆里乱跑。

4 dimes   

n.（美国、加拿大的）10分铸币( dime的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Pennies, nickles, dimes and quarters are United States coins. 1分铜币、5分镍币、1角银币和2角5分银币是美国硬币。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• In 1965 the mint stopped putting silver in dimes. 1965年，铸币厂停止向10分硬币中加入银的成分。 来自辞典例句

5 sweeping   

adj.范围广大的，一扫无遗的

参考例句：

• The citizens voted for sweeping reforms.公民投票支持全面的改革。
• Can you hear the wind sweeping through the branches?你能听到风掠过树枝的声音吗？

6 legitimately   

ad.合法地；正当地，合理地

参考例句：

• The radio is legitimately owned by the company. 该电台为这家公司所合法拥有。
• She looked for nothing save what might come legitimately and without the appearance of special favour. 她要的并不是男人们的额外恩赐，而是合法正当地得到的工作。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹

7 forth   

adv.向前；向外，往外

参考例句：

• The wind moved the trees gently back and forth.风吹得树轻轻地来回摇晃。
• He gave forth a series of works in rapid succession.他很快连续发表了一系列的作品。

8 blueprint   

n.蓝图，设计图，计划；vt.制成蓝图，计划

参考例句：

• All the machine parts on a blueprint must answer each other.设计图上所有的机器部件都应互相配合。
• The documents contain a blueprint for a nuclear device.文件内附有一张核装置的设计蓝图。

9 torpedoed   

用鱼雷袭击（torpedo的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• Her comments had torpedoed the deal. 她的一番话使得那笔交易彻底告吹。
• The battle ship was torpedoed. 该战列舰遭到了鱼雷的袭击。

10 irrational   

adj.无理性的，失去理性的

参考例句：

• After taking the drug she became completely irrational.她在吸毒后变得完全失去了理性。
• There are also signs of irrational exuberance among some investors.在某些投资者中是存在非理性繁荣的征象的。

11 jack   

n.插座，千斤顶，男人；v.抬起，提醒，扛举；n.（Jake）杰克

参考例句：

• I am looking for the headphone jack.我正在找寻头戴式耳机插孔。
• He lifted the car with a jack to change the flat tyre.他用千斤顶把车顶起来换下瘪轮胎。

12 analyst   

n.分析家，化验员；心理分析学家

参考例句：

• What can you contribute to the position of a market analyst?你有什么技能可有助于市场分析员的职务？
• The analyst is required to interpolate values between standards.分析人员需要在这些标准中插入一些值。