03/01/2012 - In September 2009, Georgia police stopped Charles Canion for driving erratically and found a bag in his car containing traces of methamphetamine. Arrested and convicted a third time for drug possession, Canion was locked up for two years at an average cost to the state of $51 per day. Canion, 50, is out now, but will be on probation until he’s 77, costing the state more money.

Canion may never have gone to prison under proposed reforms backed by Georgia Governor Nathan Deal, one of many Republicans across the country looking to reduce state corrections spending by softening sentencing laws. On Feb. 27, the state’s GOP-led House of Representatives introduced legislation that calls for special courts to steer drug users into rehab, which Deal says is cheaper than a jail sentence. “We must focus on transforming our corrections system into … a place where low-level offenders are reclaimed and restored to society as functioning members of the community, working to support their own families, and paying taxes,” Deal said last month in a speech to state lawmakers.

Lose the point about taxes and you’re left with an argument liberals made for years. The number of Americans behind bars nearly tripled from 1987 to 2007. Despite a slight decline in jail populations from 2008 to 2009, states spent $50 billion on corrections in 2010, the second-fastest-growing expense after Medicaid, according to the Pew Center on the States.

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