"Work release" programs, which allow certain convicts to leave prison every day to work at private jobs, have long been celebrated by prison reformers as a means of rehabilitating criminals. William Leeke, director of South Carolina's Department of Corrections, has documented an additional justification for work release: it pays off financially.
In the fiscal year 1970-71, says Leeke, each full-time inmate cost South Carolina $1,832 to maintain. But each prisoner on work release pays the state $1,278 out of his earnings for room, board and transportation. Furthermore, the average working convict pays $908.70 in social security, state and federal taxes. The total...
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