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SATURDAY, JULY 4, 2009

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State 'Exports' Ease Prison Overcrowding —At a Cost

(Newser Summary) – States struggling with prison overcrowding are exporting inmates across borders to serve terms in far-flung private institutions, the New York Times reports. Thousands of prisoners from Hawaii are held in Arizona, Oklahoma, Mississippi and Kentucky. California plans to send 8,000 prisoners out of state. Critics say the policy disrupts families and increases recidivism.

Convicts who keep in touch with family members are less likely to commit new offenses, studies have found. Moves also disrupt rehabilitation programs. "I was on my way to being able to finish a college program and vocational programs to get a trade," said one Arizona prisoner shipped to Indiana. "Here I have to start all over again."
Source: New York Times

elsewhere:

Private Prisons

 Private prisons making break-out profits Wall Street Journal • Website for largest private prison corporation Corrections Corp of America

More about:  prison • jail • US states • rehabilitation • convict • overcrowding

The gymnasium at San Quentin State Prison is filled...
The gymnasium at San Quentin State Prison is filled with nearly 400 double-bunked inmates because of crowded conditions in San Quentin, Calif., Thursday, June 14, 2007. The federal receiver who controls...   (Associated Press)
In this undated file photo released by the California...
In this undated file photo released by the California Department of Corrections, inmates sit in crowded conditions at California State Prison, Los Angeles. Two federal judges on Monday, July. 23, 2007,...   (Associated Press)
Inmates are moved through the administrative segregation...
Inmates are moved through the administrative segregation unit at California State Prison, Sacramento, in Folsom, Calif., Friday, March 30, 2007. Segregation units have had a disproportionate number of...   (Associated Press)
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