Downsizing prisons

Michelle Chen

Downsizing prisons

LAT prison.jpg

For poor and distressed neighborhoods, the recession is the latest in a cascade of troubles. Yet state budget woes are also eating away at an institution that has historically contributed to the problems endemic in many communities of color.

Initiatives for less-costly alternatives to mass incarceration, including early release of inmates and criminal policy reforms, are gaining currency in states like Michigan and Vermont, where corrections spending has rivaled social services and education.

New York, which has bucked trends by decreasing its incarcerated population in recent years, has been working incrementally to “rightsize” prisons by shuttering various facilities.

But the move also threatens to dislodge the economic foundations of towns that depend on the prison economy. Stateline.org reports that correctional officer unions have argued that closing facilities would pose a safety threat. Local residents lament the loss of critical blue-collar jobs. And the towns may miss the prisoners themselves, as a source of readily available cheap labor:

Here in New York, work crews from the Sullivan Annex have stocked trout in local rivers, shoveled around fire hydrants after snowstorms, worked at a nearby food bank and cleaned up campgrounds, said Dahlman, the prison officer. Now that the state has announced it is closing the prison, he said, crews are accepting fewer requests from churches and other community groups in case they won’t be able to finish the jobs.

On the other hand, the state's Department of Correctional Services argues that transferring resources from the prison system back into public coffers will yield estimated tax savings of tens of millions of dollars, and that the state has already been phasing out some facilities "without increasing risks to staff or inmates.”

The challenge of shrinking the prison-industrial complex is to parallel prison cuts with an expansion of alternatives, while avoiding political suicide. The Pew Center on the States explains that while sentencing policies have helped drive the overuse of incarceration,

Another often overlooked driver of prison growth is that the alternatives can be unappealing to local courts making sentencing decisions. Judges and prosecutors in many jurisdictions realize that their existing probation and community corrections programs are woefully underfunded and, as a consequence, less effective in managing offenders in the community. They also are acutely aware of local jail overcrowding and the challenges of obtaining local funding for new jail construction. …
Any state effort to realign fiscal arrangements in corrections is bound to confront some significant barriers, including the perception among many budget analysts that new programs—even programs designed to contain spending—will generate additional costs, especially in the short term.

Just as the building of prisons encourages the state to fill them, prison reform groups like the New York City-based Fortune Society say "rightsizing" requires redistributing resources to keep at-risk individuals in their communities.

But if the prison system is taking a hit in the recession, efforts to rebalance public safety policies could also suffer. Ohio lawmakers mulling over a budget crisis, for example, seem to have trouble making the connection between the costs of prison overcrowding and the need for sentencing reform.

The recession may or may not spur a reconfiguration of priorities in criminal justice. Jiggering a broken system will be painful for some, but no more so than the slow bleeding of social capital from communities that have long been targets of punishment instead of investment.

Image: Luis Sinco (LA Times)

Posted at 2:04 PM, Jun 01, 2009 in Criminal Justice | Prisons | Permalink | View Comments

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A “SINGLE VOICE PROJECT” is the official name of the petition sponsored by: The National Public Service Council To Abolish Private Prisons (NPSCTAPP)

THIS PETITION SEEKS TO ABOLISH ALL PRIVATE PRISONS IN THE UNITED STATES, (or any place subject to its jurisdiction)

The National Public Service Council To Abolish Private Prisons (NPSCTAPP) is a grass roots organization driven by a single objective. We want the United States government to reclaim sole authority for state and federal prisons on US soil.
We want the United States Congress to immediately rescind all state and federal contracts that permit private prisons “for profit” to exist in the United States, or any place subject to its jurisdiction. We understand that the problems that currently plague our government, its criminal justice system and in particular, the state & federal bureau of prisons (and most correctional and rehabilitation facilities) are massive. However, it is our solemn belief that the solutions for prison reform will remain unattainable and virtually impossible as long as private prisons for profit are permitted to operate in America.

Prior to the past month, and the fiasco of Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, AIG, Lehman Brothers, and now the “Big Three” American Automobile manufacturers, the NPSCTAPP has always felt compelled to highlight the “moral Bottom line” when it comes to corrections and privatization. Although, we remain confounded by the reality that our government has allowed our justice system to be operated by private interests. The NPSCTAPP philosophy has always been “justice” should not be for sale at any price. It is our belief that the inherent and most fundamental responsibility of the criminal justice system should not be shirked, or “jobbed-out.” This is not the same as privatizing the post office or some trash pick up service in the community. There has to be a loss of meaning and purpose when an inmate looks at a guard’s uniform and instead of seeing an emblem that reads State Department of Corrections or Federal Bureau of Prisons, he sees one that says: “Atlas Prison Corporation.”

Let’s assume that the real danger of privatization is not some innate inhumanity on the part of its practitioners but rather the added financial incentives that reward inhumanity. The same logic that motivates companies to operate prisons more efficiently also encourages them to cut corners at the expense of workers, prisoners and the public. Every penny they do not spend on food, medical care or training for guards is a dime they can pocket. What happens when the pennies pocketed are not enough for the shareholders? Who will bailout the private prison industry when they hold the government and the American people hostage with the threat of financial failure…“bankruptcy?” What was unimaginable a month ago merits serious consideration today. State and Federal prison programs originate from government design, and therefore, need to be maintained by the government. It’s time to restore the principles and the vacated promise of our judicial system.

John F. Kennedy said, “The time to repair the roof is while the sun is shinning”. Well the sun may not be shinning but, it’s not a bad time to begin repair on a dangerous roof that is certain to fall…. because, “Incarcerating people for profit is, in a word WRONG”

There is an urgent need for the good people of this country to emerge from the shadows of cynicism, indifference, apathy and those other dark places that we migrate to when we are overwhelmed by frustration and the loss of hope.
It is our hope that you will support the NPSCTAPP with a show of solidarity by signing our petition. We intend to assemble a collection of one million signatures, which will subsequently be attached to a proposition for consideration. This proposition will be presented to both, the Speaker Of The House Of Representatives (Nancy Pelosi) and the United States Congress.

Please Help Us. We Need Your Support. Help Us Spread The Word About This Monumental And Courageous Challenge To Create Positive Change. Place The Link To The Petition On Your Website! Pass It On!

The SINGLE VOICE PETITION and the effort to abolish private “for profit” prisons is the sole intent of NPSCTAPP. Our project does not contain any additional agendas. We have no solutions or suggestions regarding prison reform. However, we are unyielding in our belief that the answers to the many problems which currently plague this nation’s criminal justice system and its penal system in particular, cannot and will not be found within or assisted by the private “for profit” prison business. The private “for profit” prison business has a stranglehold on our criminal justice system. Its vice-like grip continues to choke the possibility of justice, fairness, and responsibility from both state and federal systems.
These new slave plantations are not the answer!

For more information please visit: http://www.npsctapp.blogspot.com
To sign the petition please visit: http://www.petitiononline.com/gufree2/petition.html

THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT!