California prison growth

From 1982 to 2000, California's prison population grew at a rate of 500%. To accommodate this population growth and the war on crime, the state of California built 23 new prisons at a cost of 280 million to 350 million dollars apiece. Previously, the state of California only constructed 12 prisons between 1852 and 1964. California's prisons are public and are financed by the Public Works Department and operated by the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. The state funds the prison systems annual costs.

There are many explanations for the prison growth. One explanation for the growth is perceived drug epidemic in the late 1970s and early 1980s and the presumed threat to public safety. By building more prisons, stability is assumed to be achieved. Another explanation is that during this period prison sentences increased and minimum sentencing gave lesser crimes longer jail terms. Moreover, unemployment led many citizens to commit crimes related to property. Ironically, California has a relatively low rate of property crime occurrence compared to other states. In response to the perceived increasing crime rate the citizens of California passed the Three Strikes Law. This stipulated a minimum sentence for those who were convicted of three felonies. Government officials, policy advisers and the media tied the public concern over crime to the need for more prisons. However, prison growth is usually closely associated with two major upheavals - the rise of the word 'freedom' to stand in for what's desirable and the rise of civic activists to stand up for who's dispossessed. The overall perception of the relationship between crime and prison growth was; "crime went up, we cracked down, crime came down."

It has been argued that the prison growth was a method to remove people of color from California's communities. Of the 160,000 prisoners in California, two-thirds are African American and Latino and 25% are not United States citizens. Most prisoners come from California's urban streets, in particular Los Angeles and surrounding southern counties. From 1980 to 2000, the racial composition of inmates has changed, however. The largest racial group in California prisons was Whites from 1980 to 1986, Blacks from 1986 to 1992, and Hispanics from 1992 to the present. For more statistical information and tables see [http://www.cjcj.org/cpp/ccf_growth.php]

The increase in prisons has led to job opportunities for communities for which prisons are located. Not only have jobs for other people in the community been created, The California Prison Industry Authority provides inmates in California correctional facilities with productive job opportunities. The inmate work program's main aim is to rehabilitate prisoners and promote their successful re-entry into society after their punishment has been completed. Through the program, approximately 5,900 inmates are given work assignments in 60 different lines of work at 22 California prisons. The goods produced by the inmates are available for local, State, and Federal governmental agencies. Prisoners are able to earn between 30 and 95 cents per hour of work.

Supposedly, prisons are to produce stability in the community. The four justifications of imprisonment are retribution, deterrence, rehabilitation, and incapacitation. A system based on retribution aims to prevent criminals from committing future crimes through fear of punishment. Deterrence is a concept that there will be fewer crimes if prisons are portrayed as being degrading and harsh. Rehabilitation seeks to provide ways of acquiring sobriety and paths from the criminal life. Incapacitation simply states that if criminals are behind bars they will be unable to commit other crimes.

Resources

Ruth Gilmore, "Golden Gulag"University of California Press, 2006.

The increase in prisons has led to job opportunities for communities for which prisons are located. In rural areas where promising jobs are difficult to find, prisons offer many people with a secure career. Guards, wards, and other prison jobs, though, are generally allocated along certain racial lines. People of the white race are usually the only group given the prison guard and warden jobs. As stated in "Golden Gulag" by Ruth Wilson Gilmore, "There are more people in prison in order for the "the state" to help rural areas hungry for jobs; in this explanation of prison expansion, prisoners of color presumably provide employment opportunities for white guards.". A positive aspect of the growth of prisons is the increase in jobs, “the department of corrections has become the largest agency, employing a heterogeneous workforce.”