Carceral California
One of the main issues with mass incarceration is overcrowding prisons. California countered this with the largest prison building plan in the world since 1982. 43 carceral institutions were built since 1984. California's prisoner population grew about 500% between 1982 to 2000 even though crime rate peaked in 1980. Black and Latino people comprise 66% of the 160,000 population. 7% are women, 25% are non-citizens, and 80% are represented by state-appointed lawyers for indigent.
24 of those carceral institutions are prisons. They all cost $280-$350 million apiece and had only previously built 12 prisons between 1852 and 1964. California also added 13 500-bed community correctional facilities, 5 prison camps, and 5 mother-prisoner centers. Except for some of the 500-bed facilities, almost all of these institutions are all publicly run, which means it is financed by Public Works Board and operated by the California Department of Corrections.
Ruth Wilson Gilmore gives three different explanations for the boom in prison construction in her book Golden Gulag
24 of those carceral institutions are prisons. They all cost $280-$350 million apiece and had only previously built 12 prisons between 1852 and 1964. California also added 13 500-bed community correctional facilities, 5 prison camps, and 5 mother-prisoner centers. Except for some of the 500-bed facilities, almost all of these institutions are all publicly run, which means it is financed by Public Works Board and operated by the California Department of Corrections.
Ruth Wilson Gilmore gives three different explanations for the boom in prison construction in her book Golden Gulag
- There was a "moral panic", a public concern of crime and associated the growth in the number of prisons to social order. Society condemned rampant deviant behavior and created a panic that made crime that created priority number one over unemployment or inflation which was a more immediate issue. This occurred even though the Bureau of Justice Statistics (FBI) published a report that crime rate was decreasing.
- The drug epidemic as threat to safety of the public due to the use and trade of illegal substances. Drug convictions in California increased by 975% between 1982 and 1999. It also seems reasonable that the reason behind the massive spree of prison construction was due to the rampant use of drugs in the late 70s and early 80s. Media portrayal of drugs in poor communities of color through sensationalized programs and stories made it clear that they would be seriously affected by addiction, drug dealing, and gang violence.
- Structural changes to employment which causes many people to look for new forms of income. Unfortunately, a portion of the unemployed turn to property crime and dealing drugs which makes up most of the prison population. Data supports that the percentage of people in prison for property crime has more than doubled since 1982 but the number of incidents peaked in 1980. Therefore, this points to a surge in the amount of police patrols and arrests they make. This points to an impressively complex issue about the socioeconomic aspect behind the demographics of prison populations.
Funding Prisons
As a state, California has one of the largest economies in the world. Only 5 countries have a higher GDP. Despite the massive growth in the economy, its poverty rate is one of the highest in the United States. During World War II, the economic boom to California was a result of the miltary industry. Millions of people relocated to California for jobs to build war machines and laborers made more in wages ever thought possible. It also completely changed the racial demographics of major cities such as San Francisco, Oakland, Berkeley, Richmond, and Los Angeles. Although the war created some feelings of antiracism, the racial segregation of the armed forces and the forced internment of Japanese Americans kept the idea of white supremecy alive. So while the war brought a lasting economic effect to the state, social ideals remained at a standstill.
During the 1970s, there was a shift in the idea behind the purpose of prisons. Before, it was determined that rehabilitation and reform of prisoners for them to be successfully reintegrated into society. However, the California Department of Corrections (CDC) felt otherwise and Uniform Determinate Sentencing Act that was passed in 1977 stated that the purpose of imprisonment for crime is punishment. It also asked of the CDC to forecast the amount of space needed for prisoners. Governor Jerry Brown took this analysis into consideration and began working on renovating the two oldest prisons in the state, San Quentin and Folsom. Eventually, Brown financed the prison design studies with reserve funds approved by the legislature. A new era of prison construction began with the beginning of the $25 million expansion of a correctional institution in Kern County. Soon, many new proposal were sent to the CDC to expand the capacity of prisons instead of concentrating on renovatoin and replacement. The same year, voters approved $495 million in general obligation bonds to build new prisons based on the idea that it would make society more safe and punish crime.
When Georgy Deukmejian took office, he dropped all notions of rabilitation. He needed a way to guarantee new prisoners and how to finance the facilities to keep them. New laws passed that changed certain offenses to felonies which required prison terms upon conviction. To finance these institutions, the politicians came up with a plan to borrow money from existing debt-raising capacities. It involved using lease revenue bonds (LRB) to supplement the debt. Private colleges could borrow in tax-exempt markets to develop or ronavate infrastructure for California and their debts would be off the books or non-committment loans because their repayment did not constitute any taxing or other fiscal capacity of the state.
The LRBs are issued by the Public Works Board and was established in 1946 to help transition California to the post-war economy. They were originally used as property loans for veterans and farmers and loans for colleges, their facilities, and hospitals. Nongovernmental borrower payments or fees are used to pay back debt and while the board is forbidden to pledge California's full faith and credit, there is an obvious moral obligation to not default on these loans. One benefit of LRBs are that they do not have to be approved by voters and can be quickly organized to help the CDC build prisons on time and it was believed that this outweighed the higher cost of LRBs. In less than a decade the amount of state debt had gone from $763 million to $4.9 billion. Before the CDC would have used these funds to keep non-violent offenders in their communities and provide treatment for drug addiction and alcoholism. After 1980, it was decided that it would be used for building as many prison cells as possible.
During the 1970s, there was a shift in the idea behind the purpose of prisons. Before, it was determined that rehabilitation and reform of prisoners for them to be successfully reintegrated into society. However, the California Department of Corrections (CDC) felt otherwise and Uniform Determinate Sentencing Act that was passed in 1977 stated that the purpose of imprisonment for crime is punishment. It also asked of the CDC to forecast the amount of space needed for prisoners. Governor Jerry Brown took this analysis into consideration and began working on renovating the two oldest prisons in the state, San Quentin and Folsom. Eventually, Brown financed the prison design studies with reserve funds approved by the legislature. A new era of prison construction began with the beginning of the $25 million expansion of a correctional institution in Kern County. Soon, many new proposal were sent to the CDC to expand the capacity of prisons instead of concentrating on renovatoin and replacement. The same year, voters approved $495 million in general obligation bonds to build new prisons based on the idea that it would make society more safe and punish crime.
When Georgy Deukmejian took office, he dropped all notions of rabilitation. He needed a way to guarantee new prisoners and how to finance the facilities to keep them. New laws passed that changed certain offenses to felonies which required prison terms upon conviction. To finance these institutions, the politicians came up with a plan to borrow money from existing debt-raising capacities. It involved using lease revenue bonds (LRB) to supplement the debt. Private colleges could borrow in tax-exempt markets to develop or ronavate infrastructure for California and their debts would be off the books or non-committment loans because their repayment did not constitute any taxing or other fiscal capacity of the state.
The LRBs are issued by the Public Works Board and was established in 1946 to help transition California to the post-war economy. They were originally used as property loans for veterans and farmers and loans for colleges, their facilities, and hospitals. Nongovernmental borrower payments or fees are used to pay back debt and while the board is forbidden to pledge California's full faith and credit, there is an obvious moral obligation to not default on these loans. One benefit of LRBs are that they do not have to be approved by voters and can be quickly organized to help the CDC build prisons on time and it was believed that this outweighed the higher cost of LRBs. In less than a decade the amount of state debt had gone from $763 million to $4.9 billion. Before the CDC would have used these funds to keep non-violent offenders in their communities and provide treatment for drug addiction and alcoholism. After 1980, it was decided that it would be used for building as many prison cells as possible.