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| Two prison closings planned in Calif. |
| By Mercury News |
| Published: 02/23/2004 |
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Even before setting up a commission to study prison closings, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's administration is planning to shut down two privately run facilities supporters say are among the most cost-effective in the state. Critics of the plan to close the minimum-security prisons suggest that the Department of Corrections is advancing the agenda of one of the state's most politically powerful labor groups. "We know the prison guard union has done as much as they can to get rid of private facilities," said state Sen. Sam Aanestad, R-Nevada City, whose district includes one of the facilities slated to close. "There's got to be something political in this. It doesn't make economic sense." The Department of Corrections plans to close the small prisons, including the state's only minimum-security facility exclusively for women, when their contracts expire June 30, according to an internal department memorandum obtained by the Mercury News. After June 30, the state "has no legal authority to pay any expenditure related" to the correctional facilities at Live Oak, 60 miles north of Sacramento, and in San Bernardino County, according to the Jan. 29 memo, signed by Suzan L. Hubbard, deputy director of the institutions division. The memo casts doubt on the impartiality of the proposed closings commission and whether it will push to shut other private facilities where the California Correctional Peace Officers Association doesn't represent workers. The union, which could not be reached for comment, has come under fire in recent weeks as lawmakers have examined the Department of Corrections and questioned whether the labor group unduly influences policy-setting. The planned closing also clouds the future of private prisons at a time when the corrections system has been engulfed in controversy over its skyrocketing budget and treatment of inmates at state-run lockups. |
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