The Price Of Punishment: Public Spending For Corrections In New York

The Price of Punishment: Public Spending for Corrections in New York was published in the early 1980s as a detailed examination of the escalating costs of incarceration within the New York State penal system. Commissioned and released by the Vera Institute of Justice, the volume emerged during a period of significant policy debate regarding mandatory sentencing and the rapid expansion of correctional facilities. The work sought to move beyond anecdotal accounts by providing a rigorous, data-driven analysis of how taxpayer dollars were allocated across the state's sprawling network of prisons.

Authored by Douglas McDonald, the study reflects the meticulous research methodology favored by the Vera Institute, which focuses on evidence-based criminal justice reform. McDonald aimed to illuminate the fiscal transparency, or lack thereof, surrounding the growing corrections budget, offering legislators and policymakers a clearer picture of the financial consequences of shifting crime control strategies. While primarily intended for an audience of academics and policy experts, the text was well-regarded for its objective approach and remains a cited reference in historical studies of New York's budgetary shifts during the late 20th-century era of mass incarceration.