According to the above chart, The State of Montana has the most criminal elements in the founding NATO countries- OR – Montana has the most corrupt, power hungry and politically motivated judges, prosecutors and Department of Corrections in the founding NATO countries.
Montana citizens don't appear to be so different from people from other areas. Here are some interesting facts about people from Montana. Actor Bill Pullman taught film and photography at Montana State University before becoming a full-time actor, and currently owns a ranch near Whitehall. Academy Award-winning director Brad Bird was born and raised in Kalispell. Carroll O'Connor, who played Archie Bunker on the sitcom "All in the Family," attended the University of Montana. Aviator Charles Lindbergh was a mechanic at the Billings Municipal Airport (now Billings Logan International Airport). Country singer Charley Pride played minor league baseball for both the Helena Smelterites and the Missoula Timberjacks. Actor Christopher Lloyd owned a ranch in the Bitterroot Valley for a number of years, on which he spent much of his time. Late-night talk show host David Letterman lives for much of the year on his ranch near Choteau. Actor Dennis Quaid owned a ranch in Paradise Valley, where he spends a significant amount of time. Daredevil Evel Knievel was from Butte. Gemini 7 astronaut and Apollo 8 commander Frank Borman lives in Big Horn County. Academy Award-winning actor Gary Cooper was born in Helena and spent much of his teenage years there before graduating from Gallatin County High School in Bozeman. Space Shuttle astronaut and physicist Loren Acton was born in Lewistown and attended Montana State University, where he is currently a professor of solar physics. There are actually too many notables from Montana to mention, so I am saying the people from Montana don't seem to be as dangerous as the statistics indicate. Perhaps the other theory, corrupt, power hungry and politically motivated judges, prosecutors and Department of Corrections seems more probable.
34% of the prison population in the State of Montana is due to sanctions and revocations of probation and parole resulting from technical violations. Missing an appointment with a supervising officer can result in a return to prison. 25% of the revocations and sanctions are due to very serious violation or new crime. (The above statisics obtained from the Council of State Governments Justice Center.) The Department of Corrections population report, 10/2/2019, reveals there are 2723 inmates incarcerated at the Men and Women’s Prisons. 925 of these inmates are revocations and sanctions. 25% of the 925 revocations and sanctions are due to very serious violation or new crime and these people should be revoked and sanctioned. 694 people in prison are there for a technical violation because meeting their supervision requirements is almost impossible.
The State of Montana is a vast and rural area. For people living on the edge of poverty and trying to rebuild their lives, the costs and logistics of community supervision can be crippling. In Montana, home to 13 federally recognized tribes on seven reservations with few services on site, people may have to travel 60 miles to check in with their probation officer or take a necessary class. Without the means to travel 60 miles on secondary roads during severe weather and lacking cell phone coverage and internet services, these people cannot meet supervision requirements. And yet we continue to incarcerate these people at staggering numbers and overwhelming amounts of money.
It costs tax payers in the State of Montana about $35,000.00 per year to incarcerate one person. Montana has 694 prisoners incarcerated for technical violations i.e. failure to complete a class or failure to check in with a supervising officer when logistically they simply cannot meet the requirement. 694 prisoners X $35,000.00 = $24,300,000. That is twenty four million, three hundred thousand dollars.
The Montana Board of Pardons and Parole holds all their very important parole board hearings through video conferencing. They do not meet face to face with inmates requesting parole. Very important careers such as teachers, nurses, physician assistants are obtained through online classes. Telemedicine and telehealth is transforming medical care in rural areas. Are we ready Montana to transform the lives of people on probation and parole and help them succeed with their supervision requirements or do we just not care?
Twenty four million, three hundred thousand dollars would go a long way in helping individuals to succeed with supervision requirements. We can use that money to set up video conferencing between impoverished probationers and their supervising officer. These video conferencing centers can be set up in tribal offices, law enforcement centers, or state offices. Required classes can be done through internet video conferencing while the probationer is online participating with the class.
Supervising officers travel to these rural areas to do home checks, and assist in arrests, sanctions and revocations. Perhaps supervising officers could travel to these rural areas quarterly to meet with the individuals they have been communicating with through video conferencing, not to revoke and arrest them but to assist them in succeeding. I would point out that a chaperone should be included with the officers traveling together so there isn't anymore "he-said" but I digress here.
If a sanction is required maybe community service or house confinement with permission to go to work and medical appointments. Not prison. Use the money for success, not failure. Despite the prison sanctions and revocations of the Montana Department of Corrections, I just don’t believe Montana has the worst criminal elements in the founding NATO countries. However, we may have the most corrupt Department of Corrections, judges and prosecutors in the founding NATO countries. The chart seems to indicate that.