Study: Prisons failing to deter repeat criminals in 41 states

By Dirk Lammers, AP

A guard house sits atop a wall of the South Dakota State Penitentiary, where a guard was shot and killed during a failed escape attempt on Tuesday in Sioux Falls, S.D.

EnlargeCloseBy Dirk Lammers, AP

A guard house sits atop a wall of the South Dakota State Penitentiary, where a guard was shot and killed during a failed escape attempt on Tuesday in Sioux Falls, S.D.

In one of the most comprehensive reports of its kind, the Pew Center on the States found that slightly more than four in 10 offenders return to prison within three years, a collective rate that has remained largely unchanged in years, despite huge increases in prison spending that now costs states $52 billion annually.

National recidivism, or return, rates are holding steady even as state officials have launched programs to help prisoners re-enter society and as the recent financial crisis has forced states to cut their budgets and re-evaluate the types of offenders who should return to prison.

MORE: Recidivism report

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