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State 'Exports' Ease Prison Overcrowding —At a Cost

Inmates shipped to long-distance exile

By Heather McPherson,  Newser User

Posted Jul 31, 2007 12:56 PM CDT

(Newser) – 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."

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 California's inmate medical system opened a new $1.6 million emergency room for the prison's 6,000 inmates Thursday,...
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 Department of Corrections, inmates sit in crowded conditions at California State Prison, Los Angeles. Two federal judges on Monday, July. 23, 2007, ordered creation of a special panel to examine ways to relieve California's overcrowded prisons, a move that could lead...
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 unit at California State Prison, Sacramento, in Folsom, Calif., Friday, March 30, 2007. Segregation units have had a disproportionate number of suicides in recent years, prompting the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation to begin prevention efforts. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli)
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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