We are always telling people how the growing prison-
industrial complex (PIC) is all about making money off of prisoners, but we need to understand precisely how this is being done so that we can explain it to the general public and show them how detrimental this is to our community.
Many rural towns have traditionally sought prisons as a source of jobs and local tax money. Another way small rural towns benefit from having prisons in their communities is through the U. S. Census report. Prisoners are counted into the census report and increase the population level, which is used to determine how much federal and state funding their town, and county receives. It doesn’t matter that none of the funding is used for the imprisoned population in their areas. It’s a staggering windfall for those small towns and counties that have one or more prisons. It brings millions of dollars into rural communities, and it robs larger urban areas of much needed funds.
No wonder the inner cities don’t have the funding for new schools, and other social programs. No wonder legislators are not responsive to complaints that the parole board has lowered its parole rate to keep prison beds full. Legislators that have large prison populations in their district are fully aware of how much money this brings into their districts, and they have a vested interest in keeping those prison beds full. The question of whether prison populations should be subject to financially motivated manipulation is a topic that we need to start educating the general public about in the inner cities. Political clout also follows prisoners from the inner cities to rural areas. Although Ohio prisoners aren’t allowed to vote, they are counted for legislative apportionment and redistricting. The prison boom has helped shift political muscle from poor, minority-dominated inner-cities neighborhoods to rural areas dominated by middle-class whites.
In Union Township, Ohio 38.73% of the population is imprisoned. That means more than 1/3 of the town’s population receive absolutely no benefit from the federal and state money that results from their imprisonment in that locality. It’s not likely that any of the prisoners who are imprisoned there will ever live in those communities as free citizens.
In order to stop the expanding PIC we must examine how individuals and whole communities profit from imprisonment. Recently Director Wilkinson stated that the Department of Rehabilitation and Corrections (DRC) would have to close one prison and lay off 1,100 employees to keep the DRC within the budget. The guards’ union organized rallies in small towns like Lima, Ohio to protest the closing of any prison and protest any possible layoffs. We already know that the guards’ livelihoods depend on keeping the prison beds full. Now we know whole communities like Lima depend heavily on it’s prison population to bring in millions in federal and state funding. Surely legislators from any area that has a large prison population will work hard to keep those prison beds full. We know that the DRC employs over 16,000 people, and now we know that hundreds of thousands of other people in small towns and counties around the state that have prisons benefit from keeping those prison beds full as well. When we look at the reason why we haven’t been able to bring forth any reform to the parole board, which is out of control, we need look no further.
What we must now start doing is educating the public in the inner city and demanding that legislators from those cities pass legislation stopping this sort of corrupt manipulation of federal and state funds. Prisoners should not be counted in the census reports, or should not be used in this manner to determine funding or political redistricting and apportionment.
In order to stop the continuing growth of the prison industrial complex we must fully understand who’s making money and then figure out how to stop it.
The state has been ordered by the Ohio Supreme Court to adequately fund our schools. We know that Ohio can free up $400 million dollars a year by releasing approximately 14,000 prisoners who should have been released long ago. The decision for legislators now is whether they are going to continue funding the prison system or the educational system in this state. Releasing those prisoners would mean closing several unneeded prisons and laying off thousands of DRC employees. But, we know there’s no valid reason for holding those prisoners long past their eligible parole dates other than to keep the beds full. Ohio cannot afford to continue to fund the expansion of the prison system when it cannot fund our public school system.
When asked why the parole board has such a low parole rate they state that they are responding to the public demand. Now we know which segment of the public they are responding to, and why they want to keep people locked up far beyond what is fair and just. It’s all about money - not justice. We are trading off our schools for prisons.
Dan Cahill
Director
Prisoners Advocacy Network - Ohio
PO Box 218453
Columbus, Ohio 43221
Phone: (614)261-7140
Email: PanOhio3@aol.com
Many rural towns have traditionally sought prisons as a source of jobs and local tax money. Another way small rural towns benefit from having prisons in their communities is through the U. S. Census report. Prisoners are counted into the census report and increase the population level, which is used to determine how much federal and state funding their town, and county receives. It doesn’t matter that none of the funding is used for the imprisoned population in their areas. It’s a staggering windfall for those small towns and counties that have one or more prisons. It brings millions of dollars into rural communities, and it robs larger urban areas of much needed funds.
No wonder the inner cities don’t have the funding for new schools, and other social programs. No wonder legislators are not responsive to complaints that the parole board has lowered its parole rate to keep prison beds full. Legislators that have large prison populations in their district are fully aware of how much money this brings into their districts, and they have a vested interest in keeping those prison beds full. The question of whether prison populations should be subject to financially motivated manipulation is a topic that we need to start educating the general public about in the inner cities. Political clout also follows prisoners from the inner cities to rural areas. Although Ohio prisoners aren’t allowed to vote, they are counted for legislative apportionment and redistricting. The prison boom has helped shift political muscle from poor, minority-dominated inner-cities neighborhoods to rural areas dominated by middle-class whites.
In Union Township, Ohio 38.73% of the population is imprisoned. That means more than 1/3 of the town’s population receive absolutely no benefit from the federal and state money that results from their imprisonment in that locality. It’s not likely that any of the prisoners who are imprisoned there will ever live in those communities as free citizens.
In order to stop the expanding PIC we must examine how individuals and whole communities profit from imprisonment. Recently Director Wilkinson stated that the Department of Rehabilitation and Corrections (DRC) would have to close one prison and lay off 1,100 employees to keep the DRC within the budget. The guards’ union organized rallies in small towns like Lima, Ohio to protest the closing of any prison and protest any possible layoffs. We already know that the guards’ livelihoods depend on keeping the prison beds full. Now we know whole communities like Lima depend heavily on it’s prison population to bring in millions in federal and state funding. Surely legislators from any area that has a large prison population will work hard to keep those prison beds full. We know that the DRC employs over 16,000 people, and now we know that hundreds of thousands of other people in small towns and counties around the state that have prisons benefit from keeping those prison beds full as well. When we look at the reason why we haven’t been able to bring forth any reform to the parole board, which is out of control, we need look no further.
What we must now start doing is educating the public in the inner city and demanding that legislators from those cities pass legislation stopping this sort of corrupt manipulation of federal and state funds. Prisoners should not be counted in the census reports, or should not be used in this manner to determine funding or political redistricting and apportionment.
In order to stop the continuing growth of the prison industrial complex we must fully understand who’s making money and then figure out how to stop it.
The state has been ordered by the Ohio Supreme Court to adequately fund our schools. We know that Ohio can free up $400 million dollars a year by releasing approximately 14,000 prisoners who should have been released long ago. The decision for legislators now is whether they are going to continue funding the prison system or the educational system in this state. Releasing those prisoners would mean closing several unneeded prisons and laying off thousands of DRC employees. But, we know there’s no valid reason for holding those prisoners long past their eligible parole dates other than to keep the beds full. Ohio cannot afford to continue to fund the expansion of the prison system when it cannot fund our public school system.
When asked why the parole board has such a low parole rate they state that they are responding to the public demand. Now we know which segment of the public they are responding to, and why they want to keep people locked up far beyond what is fair and just. It’s all about money - not justice. We are trading off our schools for prisons.
Dan Cahill
Director
Prisoners Advocacy Network - Ohio
PO Box 218453
Columbus, Ohio 43221
Phone: (614)261-7140
Email: PanOhio3@aol.com