Date: 07-30-2021
Inquest finds closing prisons creates overcrowding, the compounding of geographic disparities, and elimination of pro-social, programming-dense environment |
From Inquest:
Prison agencies across the country have long resisted progressive reform. But with COVID-19 pushing court proceedings to a crawl, reducing the number of felony cases to a trickle and slowing the flow of people transferring to prison, some agencies have begun floating plans to close prison units and reinvest the saved dollars elsewhere. This might sound like decarceral progress, but don’t be fooled: It’s a problem. Many of these plans are rushed responses, and few have been studied for their impacts. As more agencies develop similar ideas, one point remains unchanged: Despite the reform-slanted buzz words — talk of “closures” and “reinvestments” — these plans will not move us towards decarceration.
Emphatic statements that sound in reform are often met with skepticism — maybe more so when coming from me, as people (perhaps rightly) expect that the decade I’ve spent living in prison makes it hard for me to remain “free” of anything, including bias. But the problems with these plans are uncomplicated. Consider the one in my home state.
Responding to an average daily population that has fallen 20 percent since January 2020, the Washington State Department of Corrections announced a plan on May 25, 2021, to close 18 living units and to redirect saved funds to expand a home-detention program. The plan, the state claims, will “driv[e] change and provid[e] resources for individuals to advance a safe and successful transition to the community.” But the change runs in the wrong direction. Under a narrative of decarceration and reform, the plan would actually harm prisoners, shutter the few existing programming-dense units, and in the end expand the state’s carceral footprint. Continue reading >>>
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