Issues in Criminal Justice (JF)
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California prisoners, unlike law-abiding citizens, have a guaranteed market for the products they make behind bars: State agencies are required to buy them even if private workers can make them cheaper or better, according to an article in the Sacramento Bee.
That monopoly is coming under fire as the state’s shaky economy produces widespread layoffs. The sale of prison goods and services has grown into a $234 million annual industry. But the issue pits lawmakers’ desire to prepare prisoners for gainful employment against recession-related pressure to bolster struggling private businesses.
Many small-business owners say they can beat the Prison Industry Authority’s (PIA) prices—potentially saving millions—and that taxpayers deserve open competition based on cost.
Prison industry officials, however, say their prices are competitive and that savings also should be measured by success in reducing prison violence and keeping paroled felons from reoffending and being re-incarcerated at a cost of about $50,000 per year.
PIA says inmates in the work program are up to 30 percent less likely to reoffend than the general prison population, citing multiyear studies of recidivism.
“There are lots of benefits beyond just ‘Can we go out and buy this stuff more cheaply?’” said Barry Krisberg, former president of the National Council on Crime and Delinquency.
Legislation to remove the mandate is pending.
To read the article, click here.
For more information, on the importance of these programs, visit Justice Fellowship’s Prison Work Program resource page. |
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