Tuesday, February 14

A Lovers' Guide to Tonight's Blazers/Wizards Game: An Almost Live Special Report

News I will not be live-blogging tonight's Blazers/Wizards Valentine's Day matchup (too busy being romant... More

Feb 14, 2012 05:05 pm by CASEY JARMAN  | Comments 0
 

Valentine's Day in the Naked City: Couple Arrested After Sex Role-Playing in Grocery Parking Lot

News A Northeast Portland couple took sex-in-a-car to new places in celebration of Valentine’s Day, muc... More

Feb 14, 2012 03:55 pm by HANNAH HOFFMAN  | Comments 0
 

Washington State Senate Approves CRC Tolls

News A big step to raising money for the $3.5 billion Columbia River Crossing cleared its first vote Tues... More

Feb 14, 2012 01:03 pm by WW Staff  | Comments 0
 

Sam Adams is on Yelp

News The other day I noticed a curious tweet from our venerable mayor's Twitter account:Yes, Sam is tweet... More

Feb 13, 2012 01:20 pm by RUTH BROWN  | Comments 4
 
 
 
Home · Articles · News · News · Prison Blues
May 6th, 2009 NIGEL JAQUISS | News
 

Prison Blues

Too many inmates, not enough money.

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SMILING NO MORE: AFSCME’s Mary Botkin.

Six months ago, Oregonians approved Measure 57, directing the state to imprison 2,000 new inmates and requiring additional prison construction.

But instead of locking up more offenders, the Oregon Department of Corrections has now submitted a tentative budget projecting closure of 10 of the state’s 14 existing prisons and release 3,500 prisoners, about a quarter of the current total (see “Prisoners Dilemma,” WW, April 15, 2009).

“It’s unbelievable,” says Mary Botkin, a lobbyist for the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Council 75, which represents 3,100 corrections staffers. “But it’s there in black and white.”

At one level, the proposed closures make sense. After education and human services, prisons are the third-largest piece of the state’s budget, which could be facing as much as a $5 billion shortfall, or one-third of the overall spending plan.

Botkin says possible prison closures do more than imperil her members’ jobs: They threaten public safety and could also hand Republicans a valuable political tool in future elections.

Department of Corrections spokeswoman Jeanine Hohn says potential cuts are her agency’s response to Gov. Ted Kulongoski’s call for a 30 percent budget cut. Hypothetically, DOC would close small and minimum-security prisons first. Because staffing costs make up most of the DOC’s budget, the agency would need to eliminate 1,700 jobs, however, causing it to shutter 70 percent of existing prisons—as well as delaying implementation of Measure 57.

Hohn says her agency is awaiting instructions from the Ways and Means Committee, which will not come until after the May 15 revenue forecast.

Botkin, who’s been lobbying for AFSCME for 25 years, knows however ugly that forecast is, it will prompt a scramble among education, social services and public safety advocates.

“There’s not a big outcry to save prisons,” she says, “but there will be if released inmates start making their way back into people’s neighborhoods.”

 
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05.09.2009 at 12:43 Reply
I didn't like either of those measures, which made it like voting for the lesser of two evils; I really would have preferred an option to choose "Neither."

Some people believe that you can legislate away your problems, and that the police and judicial system will protect you. These are the same folks you hear in nearly every crime story saying, "we never expected this sort of thing in our neighborhood."

I guess ostriches don't.

Prisons are supposed to be "rehabilitative", but that's not what is happening.

So - if the System is broken, it'd be a good idea to make repairs before taxing it even further.

The fact that "no one saw this downturn coming" proves that proper planning was not done.

 

05.09.2009 at 04:15 Reply
Why not? Your messiah, BO, is going to release known terrorists from GITMO onto American soil, and support them with our tax dollars.

He and Holder should be impeached for Treason if this is done.

"Change" doesn't fucking-well mean suicide.

 

05.11.2009 at 01:37 Reply
We have too many drug offenders in prison. Let them out and give them some supervision and treatment, but keep the violent offenders in.

 

 
 

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