The Real Cost of Prisons Weblog

Think about it: For every 100 people in our nation, one is currently in a prison or jail. More alarming is the fact that one in every 33 adult citizens in the United States is under some form of criminal supervision – if not behind bars, they are on probation or parole.

As a longtime advocate for the rights of prisoners and their family members, I had fully expected to be appointed to the task force, especially because I had been appointed to the governor’s transition team for corrections in 2002-2003. Since then, however, I made the “political mistake” of criticizing the governor for kickbacks (i.e., campaign donations) from the private for-big-profit prison companies. I was not asked to sit on the task force, but I eagerly attended every single meeting.

In mid-April, when the task force held a public meeting, I mustered forces and brought several other prisoner family members to the Department of Corrections fro this important meeting.

In spite of family members who spoke of severe medical neglect, insufficient and substandard food, outrageous and other life-threatening abuses of prisoners, long delayed releases and the proliferation of drugs in the system (most often introduced into prisons by employees) these issues were never adequately addressed.

No one addressed the filth and mold, MRSA virus – a life-threatening staph infection that has been rampant in New Mexico prisons – or any other of the ruinous conditions in our prisons. No one spoke about the waste of money, building yet another row of razor wire, shady contracts for vitamins and food supplements, and no one spoke about unnecessary expansion and construction of new or expanded prisons.

While pre-release programs, pre-sentencing diversion programs and more education and vocational training for prisoners might help to stabilize or even reduce the current rates of incarceration in New Mexico, the kind of changes most sorely needed were simply ignored. If prison abuse, including poor-quality and insufficient food, and even outright medical neglect does not cease, New Mexico can expect further disturbances in our prisons. If access to law books and legal counsel is minimal, and no redress of grievances is available to prisoners, if exceedingly high costs of telephone and commissary items are not addressed, if family contact and visitation does not improve, then this task force was merely window dressing. It was, after all, these types of conditions that led to the brutal and unforgettable 1980 prison riot.

Clearly, preparation for release is a great idea, but if prisoners are not released on time, it raises the basic issue of overcrowding. At least 10 percent of the current prison population consists of people doing “in house” parole because no viable parole plan has been “approved” for them. This is the responsibility of case workers, many of whom are undereducated and lack the necessary skills to network in the community.

And finally, the entire issue of privatization was designated “off the table” for this task force, in spite of a legislative finance committee report released last year that unequivocally stated that the DOC paid too much money, over and above contract requirements, to the private prisons. An “error” in the calculation of the consumer price index was cited as the reason. So the task farce did the job for which it was created. To make the governor and the Department of Corrections appear to be doing a “great job” of running our prisons. So much for any real prison reform. As a Roman statesman once queried: Cui bono? To whose benefit?

A longtime prison-reform activist, Tilda Sosaya lives in Pecos, NM