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Can GPS trackers replace prisons?

Can GPS trackers replace prisons?

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Argentina may be onto something

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America incarcerates a higher percentage of its population — 724 people out of every 100,000 adults according to one count — than any country in the world. Reducing that number and the associated costs isn't an easy problem to solve, but Vox's Dylan Matthews makes the case that releasing all but the most violent offenders and electronically monitoring them with the latest location tracking tech could be an answer. He points to the success of electronic monitoring bracelets in Argentina, where a study found that criminals who received them had half the overall recidivism rates (a criminal being charged with another crime) compared to criminals who received prison sentences instead. Whether the same could be said for America is of course an open question, and the argument has been made before, but Matthews offers compelling evidence to suggest it's at least worth a try.