Prisoners also cost a ridiculous amount of public funds -I’ve seen numbers in the $100k-$150k/year range-. Prison work contributes to sentence reduction and contributes to their cost of imprisonment.
That's the point. Imprisoning people should be expensive so that it is used judiciously as a punishment.
Other countries have done very well at ensuring that former prisoners are turned into productive members of society. So the USA can accomplish the same.
I've come to the conclusion that the US is just a rich country with a huge military industrial complex that masquerades as a developed country while doing all the things it denigrates poorer countries for.
So while the USA can definitely afford to be a developed country I wouldn't hold your breath.
It shouldn't be used as a punishment at all. It makes sense only in cases where a convicted criminal represents a serious threat to other members of society which can only be mitigated through isolation—in which case the isolation should continue until there is no longer a threat. In all other situations we should be able to come up with more immediate and effective forms of punishment; ideally ones with an element of restitution for the victims.
(Also: If there are no victims seeking restitution then there shouldn't be a conviction in the first place, much less punishment.)
Some people definitely deserve to be forced to pay for what they've done. But if a man is born into a decaying and violent environment, and he commits crimes, keeping with the norm of his peers, why should all the guilt be put upon him? I say state corruption, or mismanagement, is guilty for much crime.
It's a complicated system. The label "criminal" tends to be a thought-terminating classification that prevents further analysis and assessment of what causes criminality.
You know what would be the best way to save money? Cut the prison population in half..