The U.S. prison system has steadily increased in population and funding in recent decades. Following closely behind Medicaid as the largest state expenditure, states like Texas, California and Florida are paying an annual rate for prisoners that is comparable to one full year of university tuition in the Ivy League. As the Fiscal Times' Adam Skolnick says, "It costs $44,563 to incarcerated a prisoner for a year in California—nearly the same price as a year at Harvard University with room and board…Typically parole programs cost taxpayers $7.47 per day per parolee, while prisons cost $78.95 per day per inmate nationwide."

While California's budget deficit rests around $2.7 billion, prisons are filled to overcapacity at 160 percent. How's that for priorities?

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