From policing to prosecution, jails, prisons, parole and probation, the tentacles of the carceral system ensnare hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers each year at a tremendous human and fiscal cost. Budgets are moral documents with material consequences. Funding allocated to the carceral system expands the state violence of criminalization and incarceration that targets Black and Latinx communities. It is also money that is consequently unavailable for housing, healthcare, education, youth programs, and mental health services.
In order to shift these policy and budget choices, we must first understand the full cost and scope of the carceral system in New York State. In 2019, New York State, including local, county and state governments, spent $18.2 billion on the carceral system. In contrast, New York spent only $6.2 billion on mental health services, public health, youth programs and services, recreation, and elder services combined. As New York faces a new fiscal crisis, it is critical that funding for urgently needed community-based services not be on the chopping block. Instead, we must commit to decarceration and decriminalization and a corresponding re-allocation of resources from the carceral system back into communities.
