False Hopes

A common solution to the overcrowding issue and one that has even been supported by a current candidate for governor is the idea of building more prisons. As mentioned previously the system is burdened, there are roughly 170,000 inmates who are being stuffed into prisons with grand total designed occupancy of 90,000 inmates. While measures are underway to reduce that disparity (by means of accelerated release of low-risk offenders) it is still a concern as both an ethical issue, and as an economical issue.

Proponents of building more prisons, such as Meg Whitman, state that: "(Overcrowding) is a sign that we have not invested in the infrastructure in California… We are going to have to create some capacity to invest to make sure that we have the infrastructure that we need in the next 50 years." [2] With more facilities we can ease the burden of existing prisons. They would, potentially, allow for more work programs and healthier living conditions for inmates. Better living conditions means that fewer inmates would need to be released by the federal court mandate imposed upon California last year. A mandate that “crime victim and law enforcement groups have been sounding alarms about” [1]. The fear surrounding the release of even low-risk offenders is that they will have served less time for than they should have, encouraging them to recommit. Should those criminals re-offend it would create more work for law enforcement and essentially cost the state more money rather than keeping them incarcerated.

Building more prisons does address the problem of overcrowding; however, it’s only a matter of time before the new prisons fill to beyond capacity. But more importantly, the cost introduced by increasing the amount of prisons we must fill, maintain, and secure far outweighs the benefit garnered of having more space to keep prisoners. Jerry Brown, former governor of California and current candidate for governor criticized Whitman’s proposal: “When you build more prisons, that costs money, then you put people in it, that costs money, then you have to build more hospital beds … it's gigantic.” [2]

The idea of increasing the number of state prison facilities appeals to people who want to continue to be tough on crime, those who don’t support the rehabilitation of prisoners. It is a simple solution for a complex issue, one that will not work. The cost is too high and only serves to temporarily relieve the overcrowding issue. Adding more space to incarcerate inmates is not an investment Californians need. Rather we should be investing in ways to reduce the rate of recidivism, to reduce the amount of felons that create a drain on our economy, and to improve overall public safety for all Californian citizens.

[1] Archibold, R. (March, 2010) "California, in Financial Crisis, Opens Prison Doors" New York Times, Accessed from: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/24/us/24calprisons.html

[2]Oot, T. (March, 2010) "Meg Whitman wants to build prisons, cut other programs" Sacramento Bee, Accessed from: http://www.sacbee.com/2010/03/25/2631834/meg-whitman-wants-to-build-prisons.html