4 ms·

I believe Schwarzenegger wants to do exactly that, but has been prevented by prison guard unions.

mahmud 16y ago
I don't care much for the jailers, but what about the families of inmates who might want to visit them? Will they be forced to travel out of state? Couldn't denying someone visitors be construed as cruel and unusual punishment?
- helveticaman 16y ago
  You can probably subsidize the travel with part of the savings.
  - chris11 16y ago
    Won't happen.I think it would be horrible politically to offer vacations to families with members in jail, no matter how much was saved.
- lliiffee 16y ago
  Good point! Theoretically, you could have Montana come and run a prison in California. Of course, that would never be allowed, for the same reasons that it costs so much to house prisoners in California now...
  - deleted 16y ago
    [deleted]
- hugh3 16y ago
  Denying someone visitors would be cruel and unusual punishment. Making visitors drive for two days (or fly for two hours) in order to visit, though, isn't. Think about it this way: in the days before motorised transport, were prisoners always kept within easy travelling distance of their relatives? I think not, and it wasn't cruel-and-unusual then. For practical purposes, though, Montana to California is a bit too far. But Nevada spends only $20K, and there's not much of Calfornia which isn't within a reasonable daytrip of somewhere in Nevada. Mexico probably spends even less, though contracting prisons out to Mexico might cause genuine constitutional issues...
detst 16y ago
I recall there being some talk about taking over some closing prisons in Michigan in the last year or so. They would save significantly less in Michigan so is that more of a capacity measure than cost savings?
anigbrowl 16y ago
They won an injunction against him in 2007, but the decision was reversed a year later by the CA court of appeals, which ruled that prisoner transfer is in fact legal [1]. The state has transferred about 8000 prisoners to other states to relieve overcrowding (or rather, the unconstitutional conditions which result from it) and courts have approved plans to transfer more [2]. However, the issue is due for review by the state Supreme Court [3]. 1. http://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=6294791264839700777&q=C055327&hl=en&as_sdt=2004 http://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=6294791264839700... 2. http://articles.latimes.com/2010/jan/13/local/la-me-prisons13-2010jan13 http://articles.latimes.com/2010/jan/13/local/la-me-prisons1... 3. http://www.rbg-law.com/prison-overcrowding-case-will-be-heard-by-supreme-court/ http://www.rbg-law.com/prison-overcrowding-case-will-be-hear...

I don't care much for the jailers, but what about the families of inmates who might want to visit them? Will they be forced to travel out of state? Couldn't denying someone visitors be construed as cruel and unusual punishment?

helveticaman 16y ago
You can probably subsidize the travel with part of the savings.
- chris11 16y ago
  Won't happen.I think it would be horrible politically to offer vacations to families with members in jail, no matter how much was saved.
lliiffee 16y ago
Good point! Theoretically, you could have Montana come and run a prison in California. Of course, that would never be allowed, for the same reasons that it costs so much to house prisoners in California now...
- deleted 16y ago
  [deleted]
hugh3 16y ago
Denying someone visitors would be cruel and unusual punishment. Making visitors drive for two days (or fly for two hours) in order to visit, though, isn't. Think about it this way: in the days before motorised transport, were prisoners always kept within easy travelling distance of their relatives? I think not, and it wasn't cruel-and-unusual then. For practical purposes, though, Montana to California is a bit too far. But Nevada spends only $20K, and there's not much of Calfornia which isn't within a reasonable daytrip of somewhere in Nevada. Mexico probably spends even less, though contracting prisons out to Mexico might cause genuine constitutional issues...

detst 16y ago

I recall there being some talk about taking over some closing prisons in Michigan in the last year or so. They would save significantly less in Michigan so is that more of a capacity measure than cost savings?

anigbrowl 16y ago

They won an injunction against him in 2007, but the decision was reversed a year later by the CA court of appeals, which ruled that prisoner transfer is in fact legal [1]. The state has transferred about 8000 prisoners to other states to relieve overcrowding (or rather, the unconstitutional conditions which result from it) and courts have approved plans to transfer more [2]. However, the issue is due for review by the state Supreme Court [3]. 1. http://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=6294791264839700777&q=C055327&hl=en&as_sdt=2004 http://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=6294791264839700... 2. http://articles.latimes.com/2010/jan/13/local/la-me-prisons13-2010jan13 http://articles.latimes.com/2010/jan/13/local/la-me-prisons1... 3. http://www.rbg-law.com/prison-overcrowding-case-will-be-heard-by-supreme-court/ http://www.rbg-law.com/prison-overcrowding-case-will-be-hear...