Four down, many more to go
IN A victory over the state's prison-industrial complex, four prisons are slated for closure in New York state.
New York's prison population has declined from a high point of over 71,000 in 1999 to just over 58,000 today, thanks to reforms that have led to lower incarceration rates of non-violent drug offenders, while treatment programs have been increased. In addition, many of the individuals with psychiatric issues who would have ended up in prison due to the gutting of mental health budgets in the 1960's are now getting redirected out of the prison system.
The New York Department of Correctional Services (DOCS) foresees these trends continuing, with the possibility of even more facility closures in the near future. The prisons slated for closure include three individual facilities and one co-located facility.
These closures are facing stiff opposition from correctional officer unions and communities in the northern rural areas that these facilities are concentrated in. These areas have seen a huge loss of manufacturing and agricultural jobs thanks to neoliberal policies, which in the 1980s, politicians offset by creating more prison-related jobs.
These politicians' "solution" to unemployment in New York was to take the unemployed, frequently drug-addicted minorities from the urban centers and incarcerate them in facilities located in rural areas, staffed by locals who would otherwise be unemployed.
None of the facilities slated for closure are maximum-security facilities, which tend to be the oldest facilities in the system. Two of New York's maximum-security prisons, Auburn and Sing Sing, will turn 200 years old in the next decade, with another five already over 100 years old. These older maximum-security facilities tend to have some of the worst conditions, mostly due to the aging nature of the facilities and poor maintenance over the years. During past budget crises, the first DOCS staff laid off were maintenance personnel, which led to significant deferred maintenance and poor living conditions for inmates.
Although they are still not entirely abolished, the work of grassroots activists in reforming the draconian Rockefeller Drug Laws has made serious progress in reforming the criminal injustice system in the state.
The total number of facilities will decrease down to 64, from a high of 71 just two years ago. In addition, 11 prison annexes (smaller prisons attached to an adjacent larger prison) have also been closed. These numbers however do not include federal-, county- or New York city-run facilities throughout the state.
Many of New York's prisons were built either in the 1930s--as a reaction to the rise in property crimes during the Great Depression--or were created after the late 1970s--either built from scratch (so called "cookie cutters") or converted from state psychiatric and tuberculosis hospitals--as part of the early years of the "war on drugs." In both cases, the prison system was expanded as part of a ruling-class counter-attack on working-class gains during periods of social upheaval.
While these numbers are still too high, it shows a significant reversal of the policies of the "war on drugs," which have been shown to do nothing to decrease drug use or related crimes. While the non-violent drug convictions are down, many inmates who were convicted of violent crimes as a result of their drug addictions remain incarcerated. Still, too many individuals with serious psychiatric issues are ending up in the prison system, rather than receiving proper treatment.
Until even more significant community-based treatment programs and better socio-economic conditions are created in New York's urban centers, too many people will continue to fall into the uncaring hands of the prison-industrial complex in New York State.
Josh Karpoff, Albany, N.Y.
