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Legislature slams New York prison college plan

Apr 17, 2014 7:05 am
Kyle Adams is reporting in The Daily Mail the Greene County Legislature unanimously passed a fiercely worded resolution calling for the New York State Legislature to reject Governor Andrew M. Cuomo’s plan for a publicly funded higher education program for those incarcerated. The Legislature's resolution called Cuomo's initiative a “liberal meddling with the institution of justice." Incarcerated individuals represent a continued threat to society, the Legislature said, and "are not deserving of rewards, but rather punishment for their actions.” The initiative, announced in February, would provide a college-level education for inmates at 10 state prisons at the cost of about $5,000 per inmate per year. The aim is to reduce the rate at which inmates return to prison following release. According to a recent RAND Corporation study, the total cost savings realized for a hypothetical pool of 100 incarcerated people who received education would be nearly $1 million. The Greene County resolution calls on the state legislature to reject the proposal and for Cuomo to withdraw it and apologize to those who have been hurt by the same people he is "attempting to coddle." Read the full story in The Daily Mail.