"Liberal" Massachusetts spends more on Prison than Schools

[WhoCountsTheVotes]

http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2003/11/25/colleges_trail_prisons_in_funds/

For the first time in at least 35 years, Massachusetts is spending more on prisons and jails than on public higher education, according to a report released yesterday.

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This year's state budget included $816 million in appropriations for campuses and student financial aid, and $830 million for prisons and jails, said the report from the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation.

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Regarding prisons, the report suggested that the state extend parole eligibility to nonviolent offenders serving mandatory minimum sentences and adopt sentencing guidelines that would provide less expensive alternatives to incarceration for first-time and nonviolent offenders.

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Thank you, drug warriors.