Crime Pays? For Whom?

This morning’s Bloomberg Businessweek has a fascinating piece on California inmates housed in out-of-state private facilities run by Corrections Corp. It’s hard to pick a paragraph to quote; the whole piece is a gem. It appears that CCA, at least superficially, does a better job than CDCR at housing inmates in decent conditions. Also, note how privatization is presented as an economic boon for towns in Arizona, who become “Prison Town, USA” because of the prospect of jobs and prosperity.

My concerns, however, lie with the incentives:

In investor presentations, Corrections Corp. touts as benefits to the company demographic trends that in other contexts would be considered societal ills.

“At current incarceration rates, jail and prison populations would grow by about 121,000 between 2010 and 2015, or more than 24,000 per year on average,” Corrections Corp. said in a February presentation. Both “high recidivism” among felons and “inmate population growth following prior recessions” are highlighted as positives for the company in the 48-page report.

And then there’s this, which raises concerns about inappropriate lobbying:

U.S. states are forecasting budget deficits of $136.1 billion through 2012, according to figures released in February by the National Association of State Budget Officers and the National Governors Association.

“It cuts both ways,” said Jane Cotroneo, a Moody’s analyst who follows prison operators and real estate investment trusts. Decisions by some states to eliminate mandatory minimum sentencing and release some prisoners early may hurt Corrections Corp., she said. “Even if they didn’t continue to grow, or leveled off for a while, they would do fine where they are.”

Do the benefits–decent conditions, classes, vocational training, inmate satisfaction–outweigh the concerns?

Close the CA Division of Juvenile Justice

Daniel Macallair has made an outstanding argument in the LA Times for closing the Division of Juvenile Justice and its five state-run youth correctional facilities. “The system is broken everywhere you look.” Allowing counties, instead of the state, to house juvenile offenders (currently about 1,400 of them) would save the state government $322.7 million (yes, a third of a billion dollars). County probation systems already handle 99% of juvenile cases.

California Humonetarianism Hits the NYT

The developments and reforms in California corrections have drawn attention nationwide. Yesterday’s New York Times included this story, which summarizes the recent developments in terms of prison releases and parole reform. The piece includes some data on the new releases, as well as reports of the backlash which we covered here several weeks ago, and some interviews with Mark Leno, Joan Petersilia, and others. The whole thing is an interesting read, but here’s what grabbed me in particular:

Eric Susie, 24, recently had his parole terms readjusted under the new law. Mr. Susie had served 13 months in prison for possessing an M-80 firecracker wrapped with razors near a school (he argued, unsuccessfully, that it belonged to a friend).

Now, more than a year out of prison, he no longer reports to a parole officer or submits to monthly drug tests and can travel more freely, including out of state to visit family in Las Vegas.

“I feel like I am finally free,” Mr. Susie said. “I feel like I don’t have that monkey on my back, like being a prisoner. I feel like I am a human being and can get my life together.”

Even the guards’ union, which so heavily promoted and supported the tough sentencing of the past that fueled the prison building and expansion boom, now says it supports the idea of alternatives to prison and did not publicly object to the new law.

The overcrowding, union officials now say, poses a physical threat to its members, and the union has sided with plaintiffs battling in federal court to force even greater reductions of 40,000 inmates over the next two years.

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Merci a mon ami en Maisons-Alfort, Simon Grivet, pour le liaison.

On Conspiracy Theories and the Prison Industrial Complex

Business Insider is not one of the usual places where I go for news, but I got there this morning via the Prison Law Blog. The newssite suggests that hedge funders like Bill Ackman might be displeased with the recently dropping prison rates. The reason? Counting on growing imprisonment rates, Ackman has invested heavily in Corrections Corporations of America. Here is his presentation on the company. One of the slides bears the title, “Tenants Unlikely to Default”.

Bill Ackman’s Presentation on Corrections Corp of America (CXW) @ the Value Investing Congress

Much has been written about the business aspect of prisons, and especially on privatization. The broader context is discussed in Nils Christie’s Crime Control as Industry, which defines the prison system as a mechanism of “depersonalized pain delivery”. A more personal-political statement, highlighting racial differences as well as the economic angle, can be found in Angela Davis’ The Prison Industrial Complex. For our purposes, this is an important discussion to have when policymakers are contemplating contracts with CCA for out-of-state institutions as overcrowding relief. The question is whether it is accurate to see Bill Ackman’s cost-benefit calculation as proof of an intentional conspiracy to keep the prison industry alive and well. And if so, who’s in on the conspiracy?

My sense is that a more subtle and nuanced description will do better. While CDCR employment depends on prisons, not all CDCR employees cynically hope for overcrowded prisons. If anything, CCPOA decry prison overcrowding, if only because it makes the correctional staff’s job more difficult. Yes, there are those who make profit off the size of our correctional apparatus. But it’s important to distinguish actors with financial interests from actors within large bureaucracies who operate out of inertia, and some of whom probably rejoice in the news of population decline.

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cross-posted on PrawfsBlawg.

2.5% Decline in CA Prison Population

For the first time in nearly 40 years, states see a decline in prison population, as reported by this new Pew report. The decline in California, though not the most impressive percentagewise (that honor falls to Rhode Island, per Jesse’s post), is the largest in total numbers: we have shedded 4,257 prisoners in 2009. Compared to the total numbers we are dealing with, this is a modest beginning, but maybe the financial crisis will have a “humonetarian” impact after all. The report ascribes the reduction in California to a combination of the financial crisis and the development of intermediate sanctions for parole violators.

The number of federal prisoners, however, has increased.

Incidentally, check out the impressive 6.7% reduction in the Michigan inmate population. Ironically, Michigan’s ability to do more about overcrowding than we do is what allows them to try and enter contracts to house our prisoners out of state. If we were able to do, in-state, what Michigan has done, we would have no need for Michigan’s services.

Juvenile Institution in Chino Closed

One way of working toward solving the overcrowding problem is to allocate space efficiently. Reallocation of prisoners across the system based on needs is one way to do so without building new prisons. Today, in an effort to find more room for adult inmates, CDCR closed the systems’ largest juvenile prison in Chino. The Examiner reports:

The state Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation announced Monday that it officially closed the Heman G. Stark Youth Correctional Facility in Chino, a 50-year-old San Bernardino facility east of Los Angeles.

Authorities say they don’t need the space for 400 minors, who were transferred to other facilities. Changes in state law have cut the number of youths in state custody as more go to county centers.

Instead, the Chino lockup will be retrofitted with an electric fence and other safeguards to house 1,200 adults – for much less than the $500 million it would cost to build an adult prison.

Those of you who have been following the juvenile facility situation know that Stark has been unfavorably reviewed by Books Not Bars, which found it to fail in every possible category. In that respect, the hope is that juveniles will find themselves in better environments. But another mystery concerns the decline in juveniles in custody that even made this arrangement possible.

image courtesy CDCR.

Why is the population at juvenile facilities declining? A 1995 report from the Legal Analyst’s office predicted an increase in juvenile arrests and showed that CA was well above average in juvenile arrests and prosecutions. A later report from 2000 showed a decline in arrests, which it attributed to “the improved economy (and thus more job opportunities for young people), the decline in the use of certain drugs, and the relatively peaceful gang situation in urban areas.” I don’t know which of these are true today–#1 certainly is not–and am also not sure whether some of the continued decline we’re seeing may be attributed to more juveniles tried as adults and held in adult facilities. The main idea, however, seems to be to divert juveniles to county facilities, so they can be closer to home, which makes a lot of sense.

Early Releases Law Under Attack

A few days ago we reported on an unusual narrow coalition between inmate advocates and victim advocates about the cuts to inmate rehabilitation programs. This weekend demonstrates the fragility of that consensus.

Per the Chron, Crime Victims United of California is suing Gov. Schwarzenegger, arguing that the statute, which includes parole reform and good credits for early releases, is unconstitutional:
The suit contends that the state Constitution prohibits the early release of prisoners because of crowding, that crime victims have a right to weigh in before an inmate is released and that the state is legally bound to provide adequate prisons. It also challenges a key portion of the law, the so-called day for day provision that awards nonviolent inmates a six-month credit reduction for every six months served. Previously, inmates who behaved themselves served as little as two-thirds of their sentence; now, nonviolent convicts can serve as little as half their sentence.

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/02/18/BAM51C3416.DTL#ixzz0g5i6rYWj

Nina Salarno’s interview for ABC News tries to explain the apparent contradiction:
“We believe in good time credit if it’s earned and earned means participating in true rehabilitation, not just sitting there and getting it, as they call it, for breathing.”
CVUC devoted some thought to forum shopping. Placer County, according to Wikipedia, is a stronghold for Republicans. Lest you think this is accidental, this is not merely a pro-victim move. CCPOA provides financial backing for Crime Victims United; according to some sources, 95% of the group’s funding comes from CCPOA. The CCPOA website keeps close watch over victim issues in general and CVUC in particular.
Another attempt at challenging the new law occurred when Assemblyman Alberto Torrico joined a lawsuit filed by the Sacramento County Deputy Sheriffs’ Association, attempting to interpret the new law as applying only to state prisons rather than to jails. The attempt failed; Judge Loren McMaster, though expressing dismay with the new law, applied it to inmates in both prisons and jails. A similar effort to block releases in Orange County also failed.

More on Jail Releases from Jeanne Woodford

A few days ago we reported on the impending jail releases and their effects. Jeanne Woodford’s op-ed in the Contra Costa Times offers some ideas on how to thoughtfully reduce population and how to spend the Federal and AB 900 money:

First, California is expected to receive upward of $35 million in federal funds through the Edward Byrne Justice Assistance Grant (JAG) Program in 2010. Federal JAG grants, which do not require state or county matching funds, are approved for law enforcement, prosecution and court programs, community corrections, and drug treatment, among others.


Sacramento should direct these funds to counties to assist counties’ handling of probationers and parolees.

This is not unheard of. Last year the Legislative directed $100 million in federal stimulus JAG funds toward crime-reduction programs, including $45 million to county alcohol and drug services (to provide treatment instead of incarceration to low-level drug offenders), $45 million for intensive probation services (to increase the number of felony probationers completing probation successfully) and $10 million for a new Re-Entry Courts initiative (to reduce parolee recidivism).
Secondly, counties should be able to access funding from the prison expansion legislation passed in 2007, AB 900. That bill included resources for rehabilitation services and a limited amount of funding for counties. Rather than being spent to expand state prison beds several years in the future, more of these resources should be directed to counties now to fund community corrections and, where needed, jail space.
I think the key to use the funds thoughtfully is to find out which “crime-reduction programs” have proven rates of success. It’s time for a new “What Works”. After reading Dreams from the Monster Factory, I thought whether anyone had collected good data, including a control group, regarding the success of the RSVP program. Assessing the efficacy of such programs should be top priority. One of the challenges is that recidivism data is rather difficult to access in California and rap sheets tend to be somewhat inaccurate. In addition, due to the multiple types of parole violations, it’s hard to know whether to treat them as failures of rehabilitation or not. But good methodological answers to these questions can and should be found. These are no trifle sums of money, and they need to be well spent.

Anticipated Jail Releases

The legislation passed last year, which, as you might recall, was a much leaner version than Gov. Schwarzenegger’s original proposal, is leading to a few early releases from jail. AppealDemocract.com reports:

The legislation calling for the early releases, passed by the Legislature last year, gave some prisoners enhanced credit for good behavior or work-time while behind bars. It barred eligibility for some kinds of prisoners, such as violent or sex offenders.

As a result, most of the early-release prisoners are serving sentences for crimes such as drug possession and vehicle theft, Parker said.

“There are certain criminals we see again and again and again,” Parker said. “This will mean we’ll see them again and again and again, just on a faster cycle.”

Previously, inmates could have up to a third of their sentences waived if they behaved well or did work while in jail. Those prisoners can now cut their sentences in half.

Gordon Hinkle, press secretary for the state Department of Corrections, said the law and another component of it affecting paroles will in the long run actually help public safety.

It’s worthwhile reading the short piece in its entirety. It may be a microcosm of the implications of, and reactions to, a future larger inmate release.

NYT on Compassionate Relief puts CA in perspective

The New York Times has a story today on compassionate release for inmates who are physically or cognitively unable to present a threat to society. This paragraph stands out:

“In California, where federal judges ordered the state to cut the prison population by 40,000, three people were granted compassionate release last year. In Alabama, where prisons are at double their capacity, four sick inmates were let out on compassionate release in the 2009 fiscal year; 35 other prisoners in Alabama died while their applications were being reviewed. Since New York adopted medical parole in 1992, at the height of the AIDS crisis, 364 people have been released.”

The situation may be egregious in New York, and proportionately worst in Alabama, but by sheer quantity California’s prison crisis is most dire. What values are we pursuing, what metrics are we optimizing, by paying for incapacitated inmates to die in prison rather than at home?