Post-Sentencing Strategies - The Politics of Prison Construction

• NCJ Number: 97025
• Journal: New York University Review of Law and Social Change Volume: 12 Issue: 1 Dated: (1983-1984) Pages: 209-258
• Author(s): J B Jacobs; M Sherman; K Carlson; P M Johnson
• Date Published: 1984
• Length: 49 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This article describes the political and legal processes of prison expansion, identifies the empirical issues that a comprehensive study of expansion politics must address, and considers how key decisions on prison expansion should be made. Responses to and discussions of the article are also provided.

Abstract

The article uses examples from New York State, which has expanded its prison capacity in the past decade. The role of the department of corrections (DOC) in resolving the question of prison expansion is described, and the DOC is identified as expansion's most important advocate. The focus is on why and when the DOC decides to increase prison space and on how the expansion will occur. Further, the role of the electorate in prison expansion is addressed, and questions about how plebiscites on prison expansion should be conducted are considered. The role of the legislature in prison expansion is analyzed, and real and perceived costs in taking positions which favor or oppose prison expansion and in voting for any particular expansion plan are delineated. Additionally, the interests of local government in the State's expansion policy are examined, as are the roles of citizens' commissions in producing or preventing prison overcrowding. Finally, prison expansion is identified as the best policy choice. Responses to the article suggest that the root of the prison crowding problem is the composition of the prison population, and they emphasize that the process by which construction occurs is central to the question of how punishment is delivered. The responses also recommend influencing those who set the length of prison terms or have the power to build prisons. In the discussion of the article, the imprisonment of violent offenders is addressed, as is the relationship between prison crowding and the unemployment rate. Ninety-six references are included.