by William H. Rentschler

About the author: William H. Rentschler is the publisher of the Rentschler Report, a national journal of independent opinion.

Americans no longer build soaring cathedrals that stir people’s souls. Instead, they build countless grim prisons that smother hope. It is a depressing trade-off.

A single mean, bleak prison cell, with its thin mattress, basic plumbing, 60watt bulb, and concrete floor, costs beleaguered taxpayers—from Portland, Oregon, to Pensacola, Florida; Portland, Maine, to Albuquerque, New Mexico; and all points in between—a minimum of $45,000 and as much as $125,000 to build.

These are precious tax dollars that could be applied to hot breakfasts for poor kids, updated schoolrooms and textbooks, decent education, care of the infirm elderly and mentally ill, repair of crumbling roads and bridges, and countless other pressing needs. This is merely...