The Real Cost of Prisons Weblog

If north block were opened "we wouldn't have 500 inmates sleeping in crowded conditions and nontraditional bedding in the state of Connecticut, we would take inmates off gymnasium floors and put them in security," said David Testa, president of the AFSCME Local 387. "It would be better for the staff, the inmates and the public. If something occurs inside and there's a big problem, it affects everybody outside also."

The state has spent $12.4 million renovating Cheshire's brick north block, the oldest part of a prison built by a chain gang in the early 1900s. Work continues for the sole purpose of getting it in shape for an emergency that would require a mass evacuation of another prison.

And, despite the system's ever-increasing population ‹ an expert recently predicted it may increase another 25 percent to 25,000 in four years ‹ the DOC insists it still has no plans to open it to inmates.

The location of the facility ‹ less than 4 miles from the house where two parolees allegedly killed a mother and her two daughters in July ‹ adds another layer to controversy surrounding the north block. "We have made very clear that some of our facilities are crowded," said Brian Garnett, spokesman for the Department of Correction. "We do have inmates in nontraditional housing areas. That said, the facilities remain safe, secure and humane."

As of last Thursday, there were 427 more inmates than there were appropriate beds in the 18-facility system.

State Sen. Sam Caligiuri, a tough-on-crime Republican whose district includes Cheshire, said he supports using the north block only as a last resort, and only after public comment.

Caligiuri said that he's confident Correction Commissioner Theresa Lantz has met her duty to keep the prisons in working order and functioning properly, and that three-strikes-and-you're out legislation he has supported would not increase the prison population enough to exacerbate overcrowding.

But Rep. Mike Lawlor, a Democrat and co-chairman of the judiciary committee, said the state may have no choice but to open the north block if the governor and legislature don't address overcrowding by either building more prisons or lowering the prison population.

The governor's lifting of a temporary ban on parole should help to an extent. But parole hearings for violent offenders aren't scheduled to begin until March, and the board of pardons and parole is waiting for thousands of police and court documents before it can make decisions on hundreds of inmates.

"Something's going to give here," said Lawlor. "The simplest and quickest thing is to open the 400 or 500 cells at Cheshire. It's not a great idea because we need to have a place to reserve if there's a fire.

"On the other hand you're going to have a riot or a fire" if you don't open up the north block, he said. "Until the prison population starts coming down, we're going to be in this crisis mode. We're about to crack 20,000 inmates, which would've been unthinkable."

Complicating matters, the town of Cheshire and at least one of its state representatives are opposed to opening the north block to inmates. The prison, which emits roughly 450,000 gallons of wastewater each day ‹ 100,000 more than in its contract ‹ eats up capacity at Cheshire's water treatment facility. If inmates were added to the north block, the prison will further cut into that capacity, which the town would rather be using to accommodate development of some kind, says Michael Milone, the Cheshire town manager. Furthermore, added inmates would bring the town no added tax revenue, whereas development would.

"For the people who live up there what happens is naturally there's an additional concern about public safety," said Milone. "I have to say the prison has been a very good neighbor. We're lucky that there have been minimal incidents in the last 10 years."

But, he said, "naturally we're concerned about the people who live around the prison and what does it mean to have added population," Milone said. "A lot of this occurred in reaction to a tragedy that happened in this town, and we have to pay for the fallout from it and the state's reaction to it.

"It's like we've gotten it at both ends," he added. "It's a lingering concern that we all have because that facility is there and it's not occupied."