The USA currently houses over two million incarcerated individuals on the state and federal level. The cost to care for these individuals is staggering. In order to alleviate the cost to a degree and to help lessen the economic sting, the incarcerated individuals should be held financially responsible for all services and goods utilized during their stay. Also, in order to cut down on the costly number of fraudulent appeals the current system produces, incarcerated individuals should be held financially responsible for all lost appeals filed. These steps, in addition to be fair as it is the same financial responsibility expected of law abiding citizens, would also go a long way toward hastening the economic recovery in the United States on both the federal and state levels.



