This is noteworthy in its rarity. Keep in mind that New York is one of the few states that has de-carcertaed over that past decades (and no, crime has not gone up). Notice too how most of the article is about jobs and the economy, not crime. Notably, Mr. Cuomo spared several large prisons in the northernmost section of the…
Tag: incarceration
“Not enough room to swing a cat”
I just received an email with a subject line that baffled me: “Enough room to swing a cat.” I’ve actually heard that absurd expression, which as far as I knew, came (at least in print) from Mark Twain. I was introduced to the phrase by a Russian translator in Moscow circa 1991 who liked to show off his learned “colloquial”…
Five myths about Americans in prison
In the Washington Post. By Marc Mauer and David Cole.
Recidivism in Massachusetts
The Boston Globehas an article on recidivism, parole, and lifers.
Perpetual Peonage?
“I crave felicity…. I’m in a state of peonage that seems perpetual.” Whoa. Is this really how outlaw cowboys talk? Who doesn’t crave felicity? I’ve just never put it quite like that.
India Seeks a Good Hangman
There’s a story about this in the New York Times. But what struck me was this: Today, even prison officials encourage death row inmates to draft appeals. “At times, we also help the person draft the petition,” said K.V. Reddy, president of the All-India Prison Officers Association, who opposes capital punishment. “Normally, everybody sympathizes with a person who has spent…
Real Prison Reform
I like this model, which isn’t that rare in much of the world: “Where Prisoners Can Do Anything, Except Leave.” Why not? It’s cheaper. And more humane.
Prison for life, as a free man
I received an email yesterday from Lorne Caplan, who gave me permission to republish it with attribution. I’ve edited it slightly: As a former investment banker and having recently been freed from prison in 2007, I have to agree with much of what you said today. Most importantly, it is the culture of eternal punishment that has developed in this…
Where does that $50,000 go?
California spends more than $50,000 per prisoner. A few years ago, back when it only costs $49,000 to lock a person up for a year, Mother Jones did a breakdown of where that money goes: Security: $20,429 Medical services: $7,669 Parole operations: $4,436 Facility operations: $3,938 Administration: $2,871 Psychiatric services: $1,403 Food: $1,377 Education: $687 Records: $513 Vocational education: $289…
Makes flogging look better and better
Louis Theroux visited a Miami “mega-jail.” (You can watch a bunch of his other shows on youtube–I’m quite fond of them.) For a bespectacled, peace-loving Englishman, there can be few places less congenial than a berth on the sixth floor of Miami main jail. The place has to be seen to be believed. Up to 24 inmates are crowded into…