NCJ Number
81417
Date Published
1981
Length
11 pages
Annotation
This critical analysis of Florida's proposed prison construction budget for 1981-82 examines current prisoner classification practices and offense data to document the importance of funding community-based programs rather than major prison facilities.
Abstract
The proposed capital outlay budget includes a request for over 3,700 new prison beds to be completed by 1982, but only 2.6 percent are in community corrections centers. Moreover, both capital and operating costs of prisons are substantially higher than in community facilities. As of March 1981, 85 percent of Florida's prison population was in the State's 24 major institutions, largely because no other options were available. Of the 8,292 persons admitted to the prison system during fiscal year 1978-79, approximately 70 percent were convicted of nonviolent crimes. A total of 52.9 percent of the population in Department of Corrections custody as of June 1979 were serving sentences for nonviolent crimes, such as burglary, grand larceny, narcotics offenses, and unarmed robbery. In the same fiscal year, 77 percent of all new admissions had no prior felony commitments. A commission appointed to investigate the causes of violence at Florida State Prison concluded that as many as one-third of these prisoners belonged in less secure institutions. Florida's practice of classifying over 50 percent of all prisoners as maximum security is characteristic of the overclassification syndrome evident in many State prison systems. These figures demonstrate that Florida has more maximum and medium security prisons than it needs and should instead expand its community corrections programs. Tables are included.