Conservatives are getting behind criminal justice reform across the country and one of the chief reasons is the huge savings that are possible for taxpayers, Grover Norquist, president of Americans for Tax Reform, tells
Newsmax TV.
"I'm all in favor of executing murderers and there's some people who should never be allowed out of prison at all," Norquist said Friday to J.D. Hayworth on "Newsmax Prime."
"But we need to double check that we're not keeping someone in prison for a decade longer than they need to. That's $300,000 of taxpayer money that could be back with the taxpayers if somebody is ready to rejoin society."
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Norquist believes the nation should look at states like Texas that are crafting legislation that takes multiple factors surrounding the criminal justice system into consideration.
"[They] have begun to think how many people do we need in prison and for how long? It cost about $30,000 a year on average in the United States to keep somebody in prison for one year and $50,000 if you're in California," he said.
"If there's some way of having nonviolent criminals not necessarily in prison for 20 years but in prison and then under strict supervision, can you have strict supervision with ankle bracelets and GPS technology where you know where somebody is all day?
"There's some real opportunities to let less problematic criminals out sooner than otherwise and keep people who need to stay in prison in prison as long as they need to."
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