NCJ Number
163590
Date Published
1996
Length
203 pages
Annotation
This report presents recommendations for preventing a public safety crisis by substantially reducing the cost of building and operating prisons in California.
Abstract
In addition to the rising cost of prison construction, the California Department of Corrections is facing the task of dealing with a prison population of over 138,000 inmates in a prison system initially designed to handle 71,000 inmates. And the prison population is expected to grow to nearly 200,000 by the year 2000. This report suggests six ways to provide needed prison space: (1) build mega prisons, which would cluster three or four smaller prisons at the same site, consolidating prison infrastructure; (2) use inmate labor for prison construction, which would save money and have wide popular appeal; (3) create new funding alternatives; (4) restructure prison classifications, adding a new level for the most violent offenders and relocating death row to a more secure facility; (5) create new sanctions, reserving state prisons for violent, serious, and habitual offenders; and (6) use revenue bonds, to handle prison construction funding economically and expeditiously. Attachments, figures, tables, appendixes