PRISON
LIFE INSIDE
THE CALIFORNIA DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS
Written
by: Tito David Valdez
Copyright
1997 David Valdez. All rights reserved.
No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or
by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy,
recording, or any information storage and retrieval system, without permission
in writing from the author.
David Valdez at INMATE
Classified
INTRODUCTION
I've
written this report due to the torrent of requests I have received on the subject
of prison life and inmates. Being a former University college student myself,
I too searched for the "right" information when it came to doing my
own term papers or essays. Thus, I have compiled information for you in a manner
which meets the standard criteria of most term-papers and also provide a bibliography
for your further research. Of course, since I do not have access to microfiche
machines or the Net at my fingertips, friends and family have been extremely
helpful in assisting me in obtaining information for this report from 1996 to
1997.
This report will give you the "inside" look into prison life. The
overall opinion is based on my prison experience since my arrest on December
2, 1993, until the present. I was a middle class law abiding citizen who thought
prisons were country clubs and that we should lock up criminals and throw away
the key. However, my view has changed dramatically once I became a prisoner
myself.
My goals in this paper is to convince you that prisons are not country clubs
and that our current sentencing laws are in need of reform. I would hope you
will be enlightened by the facts an awakening to the true nature of reality.
David Valdez
PRISON LIFE INSIDE C.D.C.
With
the crime rate on the rise in California and the passage of legislation like
the "THREE-STRIKES LAW", our state prison system is packed beyond
capacity. With an annual budget of $3.6 billion, California taxpayers often
complain that prisons are like country clubs, since inmates get three square
meals a day and higher education more than even some law abiding citizens can
hope for. California has the second largest prison system in the world, second
only to China (See FOOTE Page 1). It is difficult to grasp that our state has
a larger prison population than any other country in the world with the exception
of China. This report will examine the California Department of Corrections,
exploring the taxpayers view that prisons are like country clubs. The general
public tends to think of prisons as place where inmates have free and unlimited
access to education, fitness, and entertainment all while being fed, clothed,
and sheltered using tax dollars. While some of these services are available,
I will show that the average California prison does not serve simply as a vacation
spot for criminals, but in fact, life inside is difficult and dangerous. If
the state prison industry were standardized, it would not only run more efficiently,
but would cost less and result in a lower repeat offender rate.
Taxpayers tend to complain about the money spent on the system, because as the
California Department of Corrections (CDC) states in its web page, it costs
more to house an inmate than to educate a child. Currently, it costs $21,509
per year to house an inmate however, the bulk of this price is not "three
meals, television, and health care." Instead, it is for the security of
the institution guarding inmates around the clock. Security accounts for forty
seven percent of this cost, or $10,240 per inmate, per year. As CDC states in
its web page, inmates "must be supervised twenty four hours per day, seven
days a week." The prison staff must oversee the inmates movements "from
the time they wake up, during meals, when working or in class, during free time
in the dayroom, and believe it or not, when they are asleep" (See CALIFORNIA
Page 1).
In 1994 the Little Hoover Commission, an independent agency created to oversee
state government operations, studied the California Department of Corrections.
According to their report, the goal of the system is to rehabilitate and punish
inmates but does it? The answer is NO! While the system does punish, it does
little to rehabilitate, and many feel the punishment is often worse than the
crime in terms of time served behind bars.
The programs needed for drug and alcohol rehabilitation have been virtually
eliminated, "only a tiny fraction 3% of prisoners in need of drug treatment
receive it, " (SEE FOOTE Page 6). A judge can send a person to state prison
for up to five years for possession of rock cocaine, but there is little or
no drug rehabilitation offered to that person. (See CALIFORNIA Page 22). As
FOOTE states in his report, it is unfortunate that the "dead" time
behind bars cannot be utilized for training, education, drug treatment, and
other therapies for inmates, the large majority of whom will be returned to
the free world within a few years."(See FOOTE Page 6) Without some kind
of training, these offenders will be back inside a few years, continuing to
cost the state money. One report likened the idea of sending a drug user who
has been convicted of committing robberies to finance his habit to state prison,
to "a maid sweeping dirt from the floor under the living room rug. The
dirt from around the house has not been removed. The problem has not been solved,
it is just out of sight." (SEE MARZINSKY Page 6). He then goes on to say
of the prisoners that eventually get out.
"Many of them are getting out in worse shape than they went in, much
angrier. Many have been raped, beaten, robbed, and psychologically brutalized
by other inmates to levels unimaginable to the average working man." (See
MARZINSKY Page 9).
This is not conducive to a productive return to society. Though television talk
shows and media leads us to believe that inmates are getting free higher education
at taxpayer expense, this is simply not the case. However, some kind of standardized
educational system is needed within the prison system, since many inmates have
turned to a life of crime due to lack of education. As the Little Hoover Commission
reported in 1994, "Fifty-six percent of male inmates cannot function at
a ninth grade reading level and "20,000 don't speak English and the vast
majority never have developed skills to hold a job successfully." (See
CALIFORNIA Page 108)
A large percentage of the cost to house an inmate is health care, which accounts
for sixteen percent, or $3,484 per year. This covers a full range of health
care services medical, dental, and psychiatric. (See CALIFORNIA Page 1). However,
many groups have deemed the medical care as poor and inconsistent, and say many
inmates have died due to lack of correct care. (See SWARD Al). "Sick Call"
is a system that allows staff members to meet with inmates to determine whether
or not they really need to see a doctor or specialist. Even with this system
in place, doctors are often over-booked which causes a delay in treatment if
the prison does not have the services needed or if they must make arrangements
with outside doctors or hospitals. Additionally, there is often a delay in diagnosing
or treating mental illness simply because some prison guards hold the belief
that the majority of illness inmates claim to have are feigned or the guards
"believe that sick prisoners get what they deserve." (See SWARD Al).
Many costly lawsuits have resulted against CDC due to poor medical attention.
There is a program called "Compassionate Release" which allows Judges
to free inmates that have been deemed "terminally ill (within six months
of death) and poses little risk to the public." (See CALIFORNIA Page 147).
This not only relieves the State of the tremendous medical costs involved in
caring for these types of inmates, it allows the inmate to die at home. In order
to make this program less controversial, another program known as "Medical
Parole" has been suggested to allow the State to place the inmate back
in prison if the illness goes into remission.
Inmate Support, or the basic necessities such as meals, clothing, religious
programs, and leisure activities, account for 29% of the cost, or $6,246 per
inmate per year. This category, together with the Inmate Work/Training category
which accounts for 6% or $1,347, is perhaps the most controversial due to the
policy that gives an inmate a day off their sentence for each day worked. But,
as CDC says, "inmate labor keeps the prison run- ning." (See CALIFORNIA
Page 2). There are forty-five vocational programs available through out the
system that lead to skilled jobs in prison industries, as well as the education
classes offered. Inmates can also complete high school or take English as a
second language while in prison.
After exploring the cost of housing inmates, the next logical step is to look
at life on the inside what it is really like. While incarcerated, a prisoners
life consist of waking up early, eating a bland breakfast, getting a sack lunch,
and then a bland dinner. Inmates are allowed to have a 13" Color TV (Supplied
with their own money or by loved ones) in their cells, as well as items like
radios, cassettes, CD players, and guitars. Sodas, ice cream, and assorted snack
foods are available for purchase from the prison canteen. The Recreation Department
offers weight lifting areas, basketball, volleyball, and handball. There is
also a law library. As for publications, inmates can receive any newspaper or
magazine as long as the content does not contain perverted sexual positions
or any information which would be a threat to the security of the institution.
Inmates work thirty-five to forty hours a week at various jobs that help keep
the prison running. The amount of time spent in the cell depends on the prison.
If an inmate is working, he will spend about 15 hours in his cell. If the inmate
is in the "hole", he will spend about 23 hours a day in the cell.
Prison life is dangerous, sometimes unsanitary, and is not like a country club.
Col. Harry S. Bachstein, a trial lawyer who has defended many clients in prison
said, "Prison systems do a remarkable job of covering up embarrassing things
like murders committed before the watchful eyes of their guards." He says
seniority in prison is everything, and tells of a newly admitted "fish"
sleeping without a bed, blanket, or pillow." (See BACHSTEIN Page 2)
Prison guard violence against inmates is high as well, with twenty-seven inmates
being shot and killed by guards between 1989 and 1994 (See REINING B10). This
number is almost three times the number of inmate shootings in other states.
Regulations against using firearms to stop fistfights were finally tightened,
reducing the number of shootings dramatically.
According to an article in the Los Angeles Times, until recently, inmates that
were members of rival gangs were "forced to mingle in small exercise yards,
a practice that has led to a high number of fights and shootings." (See
ARAX Al) Another article stated quite simply, "basically it's a war between
the Crips and Southern California Mexicans." (See MORAIN A21). A recent
newspaper article even accused prison guards of "setting up deadly fights
among inmates."(See GUNNISON Page 6/Z5).
The rise in violence among the races and rival gangs has been attributed to
the overcrowding, as well as the fact that many privileges have been revoked
by new legislation due to voter hate towards criminals. Lance Corcoran, Vice
President of the California Correctional Peace Officers Association, said, "Prison
gangs have become younger and more violent." (See MORIAN A21). And the
overcrowding problem is so extreme that California state prisons are operating
at a 194% occupancy rate! California state prisons are crowded beyond capacity
a system intended to hold eighty thousand inmates is bulging at the seams with
over 147,000 inmates! "Prisoners are being housed in double and triple
bunk in day rooms and gymnasiums." (See SANDOVAL M4) There have been numerous
lawsuits filed by inmates and their families regarding the inhumane treatment
of inmates.
A prisoner by the name of Abdullah has published a document on the Internet
called, "The Black Peoples Prison Survival Guide. In it, he describes a
social hierarchy consisting of prison administrators, guards, and finally inmates.
The guard he says are mostly, "former military people, ex-cops, or people
who couldn't qualify for the police departments. They thrive on having authority."
He describes the guards as being brutal and racist. (See ABDULLAH Page 7). In
1995, a Pelican Bay Prison inmate was awarded millions of dollars in a settlement
from the state after he was "forced into a tub of 145 degree water."
which caused his skin to literally peel off and "hang in clumps around
his legs." A nurse testified that, during this episode, a guard said, "It
looks like we're going to have a white boy before this is through, his skin
is so dirty and rotten it's all fallen off." (See BOURKHALTER Page 17).
Prison guards are only required to have a high school diploma but they are paid
an average of $55,000 – equal to that of a California Highway Patrol Officer,
a position which requires a considerably more rigorous screening and training
process. Abdullah says that the prisoners themselves are divided into groups
based on race, ideologies, and even gang affiliations.
To Abdullah, punishment and reform are not the goals of prison, but degradation,
"dress codes, serial numbers, buzzers, and strip searches, inadequate privacy
and lists of rules too long to remember are used as a means to humiliate, tear
down, and annihilate prisoners psychologically." (See ABDULLAH Page 11).
He describes prison itself as drab, dirty, and a "fertile environment for
pests, rodents, and diseases transmitted by human contact." (See ABDULLAH
Page 12) In 1995, a Judge ruled that the Pelican Bay prison in Crescent City,
California "suffered needless beatings, brutality and medical neglect,"
and that "a pattern of brutality against inmates .. was condoned or purposely
overlooked by supervisors." (See POGER B5). Even the Little Hoover Commission
sites use of "unwarranted brutality and excessive force." (See CALIFORNIA
Page 140).
In early 1996, a United Nations report criticized the Pelican Bay State Prison
for being. "inhuman and degrading." Reporting that some inmates were
made to stay in their windowless cells for up to twenty two hours per day. The
report stated "a substantial number of prisoners were said to be suffering
from mental illnesses caused or exacerbated by their confinement in the Unit."
(See U.N. A15) In one prisoners lawsuit against Pelican Bay, this practice accused
the State of "using isolation and sensory deprivation as a form of psychological
torture." (See PODGER B5). An investigation by the San Francisco Chronicle
in 1994 estimated that of the 125,000 inmates incarcerated at that time, 10,000
were mentally ill, 1,100 were HIV positive, and 150 suffered from Tuberculosis
(See SWARD Al).
Young inmates, however, still seem to glorify the idea of prison going to prison
has been compared to joining the Army. Speaking of friends who had gone to prison
and been released one young man said, "when they come back, I saw that
they got a lot of respect. And I wanted that. When you are locked up for a long
time and you show up one day, everyone wants to be the first to be seen with
you." (See FARR A01).
Thought most research available shows that inmates with strong family support
during their incarceration have a lower repeat offender rate than those who
do not, California's state prison system appears to separate families whenever
possible by sending the inmates to remote prisons many times hundreds of miles
from home.
The Visiting room has dress codes barring things such as revealing clothing,
skirts with slits in the back, under wire bras, jeans, and metal buttons. The
room is monitored by guards as well as by casino cameras. Visiting days are
Saturday and Sunday however, some prisons offer 4 day a week for visits.
Misbehaving inmates, or inmates that have been involved in fights get thrown
into "the hole" or Administrative Segregation. While in the "hole",
inmates are allowed to only wear a T-shirt and boxer shorts. Wedding bands are
mailed home and since there is no policy for returning them once the inmate
gets out of the "hole", the inmate does not get his wedding band back.
They are given powdered toothpaste and a half-inch toothbrush. They are not
allowed a comb, and sometimes not even a blanket. Even inmates that have done
nothing wrong and are simply witnesses in a court proceeding get placed in "the
hole" to separate them from the rest of the prison population and to "protect"
them.
As part of the "tough on crime" wave hitting Sacramento, in February
of 1996, most California inmates had their overnight Family Visits taken away.
Contrary to popular belief, Family Visits "Conjugal Visits" do not
consist of only sexual visits with inmate wives. Family visits are overnight
visits for inmates and their wives, children, parents, sisters, and brothers.
It is an opportunity for the inmate to interact in a semi-natural environment
with loved ones. While sex with the spouse is a natural part of this situation,
it is not solely for sexual purposes. These visits were taken away as a demonstration
of how "tough" California is on crime, and were praised as a money-saving
device. In fact, this is not true the Inmate Welfare Fund paid for the construction
and maintenance of the two bedroom apartment used for Family Visits. Wives and
family members bring their own toiletries and food, and are responsible for
cleaning the apartment to its original condition after the visit or else future
visits would be prohibited. The apartment is on prison grounds, fenced, and
audibly monitored twenty four hours a day. Guards are able to walk in at any
time, unannounced and inmates are drug tested on the way out the next day. Taxpayers
pay no part of the Family Visit Facility, yet they were cut as part of an effort
to save money.
Male inmates are not the only ones who must deal with these types of conditions.
With the largest population of female inmates and the worlds largest women's
prison, California prison guards are still mostly men. There have been reports
made of "women forced to submit to strip searches while male guards were
present, and the male guards staring at and harassing women as they showered
or used the toilet." (See GUNNISON Page 6 /Z5) One Humans Rights Watch
report relays female inmates tales of hearing "All you bitches and whores
get into your rooms, " over the loudspeaker at times. (See GUNNISON Page
6/Z5)
Inmates are not automatically given phone privileges, they must sign up to make
phone calls to loved ones, and they cannot receive phone calls. In the event
of a family emergency, a message is relayed through the Chaplain. All calls
made by inmates must be made collect. MCI, the exclusive long-distance telephone
service for CDC, charges inmates families an additional $3 surcharge for every
call originating from the prison. Many feel this fee is unfair, as the prisoners
are a captive market and have no choice but to use the MCI phones. In addition
to this, as a protection for victims and Judges, all calls originating from
a state prison are interrupted every 15 seconds with a recording stating, "This
call has originated from a California State Prison" which leaves very little
opportunity for intimate conversations with loved ones.
In my opinion, the abolition of the indeterminate sentencing act in 1976 was
a tremendous step backward for the system. An indeterminate sentence is one
that is a term range, such as 15 years to life, with their actual term set on
a case-by-case basis by the Adult Authority." Though opponents of the indeterminate
sentencing charged the Adult Authority with making unfair and subjective decisions
regarding length of prison terms and holding prisoners who had committed similar
crimes for widely different periods of time," the range gave prisoners
an incentive to work, educate themselves and behave in order to get early parole.
(See CALIFORNIA Page 14)
The Determinate Sentencing Act of 1976 was designed to be uniform regarding
length of sentences, but with it, it 'explicitly abandoned the long-standing
purpose of prison as rehabilitation and instead established punishment as the
stated goal.' (See CALIFORNIA Page 15). It was added that over time, legislation
has greatly complicated sentencing. The Little Hoover Commission as well as
inmates and their family members, maintain that Determinate Sentencing is "inequitable
to both victims and offenders, offering little in the way of certainty and nothing
to as sense of fairness." (See CALIFORNIA Page 17)
Fifty-seven percent of California inmates are serving under determinate sentences
for non-violent crimes such as, burglary, grand theft auto, auto theft, and
drug offenses ranging from possession of rock cocaine to sale of marijuana.
This means that California treats violent and non-violent offenders the same
way "although the propensity for them to endanger public safety is quite
different." (See CALIFORNIA Page 47). Prior to the Determinate Sentencing
Act., the system of Indeterminate Sentencing was founded on the idea that the
"direction of the lives of prisoners could be changed while they were in
the hands of the State through education, counseling, and training and that
inmates should not be released until they were certifiably rehabilitated. (See
CALIFORNIA Page 91)
A surprising revelation is that "huge numbers of prisoners spend less than
a year behind bars." (See CALIFORNIA Page 51) This is due to credit for
jail time served and the state law that allows prisoners to receive one day
off their sentence for each day on a work assignment. The money spent to house
these type" of inmates could be significantly reduced by sentencing them
to some type of community service, subjecting them to large fines, or placing
them in rehabilitation programs when appropriate. This would also free up many
beds for violent offenders. "Work assignments do not necessarily mean the
inmate is actually working, as long as the inmate is on a waiting list for an
assignment he can still receive credit. Perhaps contributing to the public perception
that California is too soft on crime is the fact that inmates can generally
work a six or eight hour day, and those few hours count for an entire day off
their sentence.
I believe several of the solutions offered by the Little Hoover Commission are
the best for putting an end to the over- crowding problem, as well as lowering
the repeat offender rate. In December 1992, the inmate population was 57% non
violent offenders "burglars, thieves, drug offenders, and those who possess
weapons or drive under the influence of controlled substances." (See California
Page 13). According to a study by the RAND Corporation, "property and drug
offenders are good candidates for rehabilitation," therefore these types
of non-violent offenders should "learn skills and come out productive citizens."
(See CALIFORNIA Page 24)
The number of any type of rehabilitation programs job training drug rehabilitation,
and basic high school education needs to be an increased and improved system
statewide. Research has shown that an inmate who receives an education and works
while incarcerated is less likely to return to prison after release. Unfortunately,
"the Department of Corrections has no mandate to rehabilitate, only to
punish." (See CALIFORNIA Page 24). Violent offenders, it has been found,
are not good candidates for rehabilitation and therefore "the most appropriate
candidates for long prison terms." (See CALIFORNIA Page 45). The Little
Hoover Commission has also suggested to continue the work-credit system, but
to add the stipulation that if parole is violated, then the credit earned would
be re-imposed. (See CALIFORNIA Page 82)
Often, the jobs that are available to inmates are not jobs they can put to use
once they return to society. This is due to a number of factors, from prison
industries using out-dated equipment because it is labor intensive (which creates
inmate jobs) to skills that are simply not needed on the outside- like license
plate making. For the most part, inmates are not tested or screened for level
of skill or education to determine their best area of use. Certain inmates are
eligible to participate in fighting fires and most people in the general public
do not know that in one year "inmate firefighters put in three million
hours fighting fires at $1 an hour and saved the State $24 million in salaries
and other costs." (See CALIFORNIA Page 105) Though these inmates must be
carefully screened, fire fighting is beneficial both to the inmate and the State,
as it gets the inmate outdoors and a break from the monotony while being paid
a fraction of what regular firefighters make.
Another logical suggestion placed by the Little Hoover Commission was a policy
of working only part-time and then going to school the remainder of the day.
This would "create" more jobs as existing jobs would be split in two,
as well as encouraging inmates to further their skills via education. In fact,
the Commission recommends using full-time work as an incentive to further education.
If a ninth grade reading level were required in order to get much sought after
full-time work, more inmates would have reason to pursue their education.
Currently, the highest level of education available to an incarcerated individual
is a high school diploma or a General Equivalency Diploma. Additionally, there
are more than forty- five vocational training programs for skills ranging from
"silk- screening" to "plumbing". (See CALIFORNIA Page 118).
Several years ago, certain institutions offered community college and even some
university courses, however, those programs were eliminated due to budget cuts
and public discontent.
There is currently little or no pre-release planning to help inmates learn important
job hunting skills. Under the parole system, an inmate could not be released
until he could prove he had a pre-release plan. California is releasing inmates
directly from Security Housing Units, "the maximum-security segment of
the prison system that much of the public would equate with solitary confinement"
with no means or knowledge of how to survive crime- free on the outside, to
city streets. This had led to criminals reverting to their old ways immediately
in some cases, in others, simply withdrawing and suffering mental breakdowns.
(See CALIFORNIA Page 72) One of the hopes of the criminal justice system, and
indeed, society, is that when criminals have done their time and are released
back into society, they will live a clean life and be a productive member of
society. With this in mind, the prison system should enact programs to help
insure inmates get the pre- release training they need to function legally on
the outside. As suggested by the Commission, instead of releasing those Security
Housing Unit inmates back into society directly, they should first be filtered
through the general population, and if all goes well, returned to society with
a pre-release plan. Sadly, the inmates that need the work and education programs
the most in order to become productive members of society – those in Security
Housing Units are not eligible for those programs.
Author Mark Fleisher said, " On the street, it's too easy to get into
trouble... when that happens, each criminal is given his own "ticket home".
Then, after years in prison, they're released again. Back to the street life,
back to poverty, back to crime, back to prison. So the cycle continues for high
risk offenders, but at whose expense? (See FLEISHER Page 23).
The current system of warehousing prisoners does little to rehabilitate and
contribute to public safety. As is stands now, an inmate has no incentive to
keep his nose clean while incarcerated and may even learn new "tricks of
the trade" while inside. The power of sentencing, according to many, must
be taken out of the hands of politicians, and placed in the hands of a committee
that cannot be effected directly by legislation, which will prevent the confusion
and problems that resulted from the Determinate Sentencing Act.
The Little Hoover Commission recommended several alternatives to state prison
for certain non-violent offenders: electronic monitoring, intensive supervision
by a probation or parole officer, community drug treatment, community service
work along highways and in parks, fines, and restitution to the victims and
to the State. (See CALIFORNIA Page 57-58). These alternatives would free up
bed space for violent offenders who cannot be integrated back into society,
while still punishing criminals for their crimes.
There appears to be an inconsistency throughout the system. The Little Hoover
Commission calls this a "long standing practice of allowing each prison
to operate independently." (See CALIFORNIA Page 136). Essentially, this
allows each prison to be run in a different manner – to have different
policies about anything from attire of visitors, to rehabilitation programs
available within each individual prison. The Little Hoover Commission says the
"end result is a system that has allowed appalling abuse of some prisoners,
lax standards for daily operations, and question- able practices that leave
the State open to expensive liability." (See CALIFORNIA Page 136). Conformity
within the system on virtually all policies must be a goal of those that control
the California Department of Corrections, in order to provide the safest, most
productive form of rehabilitation to prepare a prisoner for his or her return
to society. Without standardization throughout the system, we will continue
to see "hit and miss" results with high repeat offender rates.
When the general public is faced with the issue of being tough on crime, extreme
cases are used to illustrate the need for tougher policies, however, when blanket
policies are enacted, they effect not only the extreme cases, but the regular
inmates and their families as well. Most important is, we need to remember,
that while these people have committed crimes against society, they are still
human beings, and must be treated as such. If we do not treat these people as
human beings, how can we possibly expect them to return to society and lead
a productive life when all they know is crime and hatred?
I strongly believe if the average Californian were aware of the conditions that
exist within the state's prison system, if they were to see the glaring inconsistencies,
that the system is not working, and if they were to see that inmates are not
merely "vicious animals who have committed heinous acts," but that
they are PEOPLE, it would facilitate an understanding, even an element of compassion
for the overcrowding and brutalities suffered. We must remember that inmates
are people. People that committed crimes, but people nonetheless, who should
be treated as humans. They are people that need to be REHABILITATED, not locked
up and forgotten!
To close this report, I strongly agree with the findings of the Little Hoover
Commission. I believe that we should revise the sentencing laws so as to rehabilitate
property and drug offenders rather than simply locking them up and forgetting
about them. We should also instigate programs that would teach inmates vocational
skills they can use on the outside which would enable them to get a job and
become a productive member of society once released. We should require that
all inmates be able to read at a ninth grade level before they are granted full
time work, and we should offer the education to enable them to reach that goal.
Hand in hand with the idea of equipping them with job skill and the ability
to read, would be the implementation of a mandatory pre release plan for all
inmates.
With the California prison population growing yearly, California taxpayers must
make a decision: either accept the fact that more prisons need to be built because
crime rates will continue to rise if we do nothing to rehabilitate or standardize
the system, educate inmates, and provide them with job skills so that when they
get out, they have useful, legal means of earning a living. Perhaps the most
effective use of tax dollars in the prison system would be to earmark more money
to rehabilitation and job training for parolees, so that they may truly become
productive members of society and not repeat offenders. Additionally, the idea
has been posed to not incarcerate all criminals - those that could live under
either House Arrest or still function outside without being a danger to anyone
in society, should be let out to make room for truly violent offenders, and
again allow them the chance to honestly rehabilitate themselves. I am confident
that this paper enabled you to have a clearer understanding of the problems
facing the prison system, as well as the reasons behind the outrageous cost
of housing inmates.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
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Arax, Mark "Prison Officials Unveil Plan To Halt Gang Fights"
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Bachstein, Col. Harry S. "Going to Jail and Buying American" 1996
Internet, http://members.aol.com/bachll/adventurer.htm
Bourkhalter, Holly J. "Torture in U.S. Prisons" The Nation 3 July
1995: Page 17
"The Cost of Housing an Inmate" 1997: Internet, http://www.cdc.state.ca.us
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the Role of California's Prisons 18 January 1994.
Christensen, Kim "Update: Killings by Prison Guards Low; Trends: California's
Tightened Regulations on Use of Lethal Force to Break Up Fights Appear to Be
Working" Orange County Register 9 March 1997: G01.
Farr, Jory "Families of Prisoners on the Hook for High Phone Bills"
Press-Enterprise 25 February 1997: A04.
Farr, Jory "The State of Imprisonment" Press-Enterprise 23
February 1997: A01.
Fleisher, Mark S. Warehousing Violence Newbury Park: Sage, 1989
Foote, Caleb "The Prison Population Explosion: California' Roge
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– 18.
Gunnison, Robert B. "The Golden State's Hidden Human Rights Abuses
Women In California Prisons Face Sexual Harassment" San Francisco Chronicle
16 February 1997: 6/Z5
Marzinsky, Jerry A. "Programs For Large Scale Correctional Populations
Index: An Inexpensive, Practical, Measurable System!" 25 March 1996.
Morain, Dan "1 Inmate Killed, 13 Hurt in Prison Fight; Melees: Blacks
and Latinos Battle With Makeshift Weapons at New Folsom. Dead Prisoner Is Among
6 Shot By Guards" Los Angeles Times 28 September 1996: A21
Podger, Pamela J. "Prison Management Blamed For Abuse" Fresno
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Prison Law Web Page "Medical Care In Prison" 13 April 1997.
Internet: http://www.wco.com/-aerick/cdc.htm
"Reigning in Prison Guards" Orange County Register 13 March
1997: B10.
Sandoval, Joe "Space Shortages In State Prisons" Los Angeles
Times 23 March 1997: M4
Sward, Susan and Bill Wallace "Health Crisis Behind Bars: Ailing
Prison Inmates Suffer From Lack Of Care" San Francisco Chronicle 3 October
1994: A1
"U.N. Report Criticizes Unit at Pelican Bay: Prison Conditions Described
as 'Inhuman'" San Francisco Chronicle 28 February 1996: A15.