Perhaps it is only a signal of our offended and divided instances, however I am discovering that critics usually do not learn previous the headline or the primary couple of paragraphs earlier than sending me a nasty-gram. So, within the curiosity of studying comprehension, I’ll begin this unlikely-to-be in style column with some caveats.
I imagine harmful predators ought to spend their lives behind bars. I don’t imagine incarceration ought to be a picnic. Though there are some individuals in our state’s jail system who should not be there, I am satisfied that the overwhelming majority of them do belong there. I don’t assume criminals are victims of society.
I additionally cringe at many California Democrats’ refusal to take significantly public-safety issues. I feel punishment—and never simply rehabilitation—is a correct position for the justice system. I additionally imagine defending innocents is extra necessary than giving individuals a second probability. The principle aim of justice reform ought to be to guarantee that any punishment matches the crime, to not make it tougher to incarcerate murderers. I even voted for Proposition 36, the anti-crime measure Californians handed in November.
But, not like a few of my conservative-minded mates, I’m inspired fairly than appalled by the Newsom administration’s $239-million plan to remake the infamous San Quentin State Jail in Marin County “right into a Scandinavian-style rehabilitation heart full with a farmer’s market, a podcast manufacturing studio and a self-service grocery retailer,” per the San Francisco Chronicle. The podcast concept sounds dopey, however the remainder of it is not.
The hulking facility overlooking San Francisco Bay in Marin County is the oldest correctional facility in California, relationship to the 1850s. It already has been renamed the San Quentin Rehabilitation Heart. By the way in which, the state’s jail company known as the California Division of Corrections and Rehabilitation, not that “corrections” and “rehabilitation” have been notably profitable right here—or in any of our high-security state or federal prisons.
Earlier than you begin typing, take into account this remark from California Correctional Peace Officers Affiliation Vice President Steve “Bull” Durham after he and fellow guards’ union members toured a facility in Norway: “Corrections officers in California are actually sick and drained from being cogs in a machine that does not work—for our society, for incarcerated individuals, or for guards who desire a profession that does not kill them.” CCPOA is not crammed with head-in-the-clouds progressive dreamers.
Let’s begin with a have a look at what this mannequin entails. As an alternative of getting cellblocks that resemble scenes from “The Inexperienced Mile,” Scandinavian-style prisons look extra like low-grade group schools. The emphasis is on making ready prisoners for re-entry into society by instructing them the way to operate as accountable adults fairly than spending years becoming a member of gangs, combating and simply attempting to outlive the cruel circumstances. These prisons view the deprivation of freedom fairly than harrowing circumstances as the actual punishment.
Evaluating the success of those jail experiments is hard provided that Scandinavian societies are far much less violent than American ones. They’re extra homogenous. They’ve far decrease incarceration charges, and other people in Finland, Norway, and Sweden are usually higher behaved normally.
But this mannequin additionally has been tried in the US, most prominently within the tough-as-nails jail in Chester, Pennsylvania, simply south of Philadelphia. As Important Metropolis reviews, “the charges of significant, adjudicated misconduct are meaningfully decrease when the unit is in comparison with different basic inhabitants housing items on the facility. Battle and violence are additionally exceedingly uncommon.” Recidivism charges seem like dropping.
The most recent knowledge reveals California recidivism charges falling considerably to 42 p.c, as prisons have had much less overcrowding and state officers have targeted extra on rehab packages. Analysis reveals that prisoners who take part in re-entry packages have a 13 p.c decrease charge of recidivism than others, per CDCR knowledge reported by CalMatters. Contemplate the San Quentin proposal as a prison-wide re-entry program.
The state additionally pays considerably much less to accommodate inmates in rehabilitation-oriented settings than the standard, closely guarded ones. So, whereas the price of the San Quentin conversion appears eye-popping, it in all probability makes monetary sense. I am not naïve. Typically, new authorities packages promise myriad price financial savings that by no means materialize.
It is crucial that the state significantly have a look at the prices vs. advantages, however potential financial savings appear actual, given the potential for a extra chill jail state of affairs. I’ve toured conventional jails and ones run like this new mannequin. The latter have fewer violent incidents, are the topic of fewer lawsuits, and are safer and extra humane for everybody concerned (prisoners and employees).
Now take into account this statistic: The U.S. Division of Justice reviews that round 95 p.c of all prisoners will in some unspecified time in the future be launched from jail. If somebody from San Quentin moved into your neighborhood, would you need that particular person to have spent the previous 10 years combating for his life as a part of a skinhead gang or somebody who had spent the time attending lessons, gardening, and enjoying ping pong?
This column was first revealed in The Orange County Register.
