SuperCell: Our Superhero!
A wish apparently fulfilled in the state of California.
The original ruby slippers worn by Judy Garland in
The Wizard of OZ, photographed at the Smithsonian
in August of 2005 (by P. Jackson). Obviously, out here
in California we don't need to click them to create our reality!
No need to click your heels three times.
No need for an action figure
No need to think too deeply.
Indeed, no need to think at all!
Crime Control is Easy:
Just Unleash
SuperCell!
Here's what you do, it's easy:
You just put your offender in, close the door, push the Time button and SuperCell takes over. The more prisoners you put in and/or the longer you lock them up, the bigger SuperCell gets. SuperCell in California is HUGE!!!
Known for surprising longevity given high capital and operating costs and questionable crime reduction benefits, SuperCell is California's (until now) unrecognized Superhero. Other jurisdictions may have similar superheroes.
SuperCell in California
You are invited to create a Junior SuperCell in your jurisdiction!
(Let us know so we can link to you.)
(Taken from First Quarter 2007 Facts and Figures,) take the link for most recent issue.
Today SuperCell in California includes 33 state prisons, 40 camps, and about 12 community correctional facilities and 5 prisoner mother facilities as of about March 2007. Over 165,000 individuals are held in prisons and camps. The total number under CDCR jurisdiction is about 312,271. The Community Correctional Facilities, most of which operate under contract with the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, include 19 re-entry centers, 2 restitution, one (1) drug treatment facility, 40 camps and sixteen community correctional facilities. There are now 190 parole units and subunits and 4 parole outpatient clinics.
93 percent of inmates and parolees are male; 27% of inmates are white, 29% black, 38% hispanic; and 6% other. The offenses as categorized include 51% persons; 20% property; 20% drugs; and 9% other. Inmate reading level averages are 7th grade. Their median age is 36. 53.6% were unemployed at the time of their offense. Death row inmates number 657; that number is updated frequently so take this link and look under state by state comparisons.
The average sentence of inmates sent to SuperCell is 46.7 months, an average of 23.6 months is served (this differential is pretty much known at the time of sentencing). The commitment rate has dramatically increased to 394.6 per 100,000 California population. See below for data on growth. There are 29,912 lifers and 3,584 inmates serving life without parole. Note: there were only a little over 21,000 total adult inmates in California in 1976 with a budget of 2.2 billion.
SuperCell is expensive although the real cost of it is debated. The average yearly cost per inmate has sharply increased from a decade ago--to $43,287, according to the Legislative Analyst's Office in February, 2007. CDCR puts the annual cost of a prisoner at $34,150 and a parolee at $4,067. It is unclear what explains the differences between these numbers.
California's 2006-2007 SuperCell $8.75 billion budget is up from $5.237 in 2002-2003. The budget it is expected to grow to ten billion dollars or over 6% of the California general fund. (SuperCell's 1996-1997 budget was a mere $3.6 billion.) There are 56,574 budgeted positions, nearly 34,000 are sworn peace officers. Over 52,000 are in Institutions, over 3,100 are in parole and over 4500 are in Administration, all of which have grown substantially in recent years.
Most returns to prisons are for technical violations of parole, not
new criminal convictions. Most technicals are for positive hits on drug
tests. See the tables for males and females that follow.
Recently the Little Hoover Commission has criticized the CDCR parole system, and a court decision by Judge L. Karlton has forced changes in the revocation and return process. This situation is changing fairly rapidly.
The return rate of parolees with a new prison term is 14 per 100 average daily population, down from 17.1 in 1997.
The return rate of parolees as a parole violator is 46 per 100 average daily population, up from 51.3 in 1997.
The return rate for parole violation is over 3.4 times the rate for new prison terms.
Growth
New admissions to SuperCell back in 1983-84 were 17,979, for an official admission rate of 143.1 per 100,000 California state residents age 18-49. By 1991-1992 the number of new admissions had increased to 38,228 for an admission rate of 240.3 per 100,000 residents age 18-49. Today the commitment rate is 445.9 per 100,000. This is a phenomenal increase. California has the largest prison building program in the U.S. and probably the world, although Southern states' rates of commitment are higher. Some officials routinely state that high incarceration levels have caused the dramatic decline in crime. However, jurisdictions without increases in prison populations or three strikes laws have likewise shown dramatic declines in crime in both the U.S. and Europe. See this link for federal prison data, this one for a discussion of the increases in federal prison populations and reasons for declines in crime, and this one that highlights the Western region. The latest (Nov. 2007) review of studies, Unlocking America from the JFA Institute at this link, also make this highly persuasive argument.
As noted above, SuperCell's size is a function of the number of inmates going in and how long they stay. The data are clear that the rate of commitment has increased by 3.3 times from 1983-4 to 2002. During this same period the amount of time that inmates spend in SuperCell has also increased dramatically. These two factors drive SuperCell's spectacular growth.
At present California prisons are over 200% of their rated capacity.
The state will need tens of thousands of additional beds very soon to keep up with the expected growth--that is, if we continue to choose to build our way out of the demand for prison space. This is a political decision, just as our decision was to embark on the unprecedented growth in prison building. In April of 2007, the California legislature authorized another 53,000 beds to be added to CDCR, at a cost of a mere $7.4 billion, which will be funded by the time-honored method of revenue lease bonds. These of course do not require citizen approval. The legislature and governor are attempting to stave off federal takeover of the prison system.
At this moment (11.15.07) the legislative analyst's office indicates that California's state deficit is projected to hit $10 billion dollars over this year and next, due largely to the housing slump and downturn in the economy. With the extraordinary costs of building new prison beds, and then the operating costs of managing the new inmates, California is now commiting itself to spending unfathonable amounts of money on prisons.
Another way to look at the enormous and increasing expenditures on prisons is to consider the present expenditures as lost opportunities--that is, opportunities to use such enormous sums of money to deal constructively with other, very pressing, problems in our society--like the societal conditions that permit and encourage crime, fixing schools, repairing bridges, etc., or even such prominent and important things like California's very high recidvism rate. Locking people up may make it possible to incapacitate and prevent some crime for a very brief period--we pay the enormous amount of money on prisons for that narrow benefit. However, the extraordinarily high recidivism levels of released prisoners means that we are doing absolutely nothing to correct the long term issues of our society that lead to crime. Over 93% of prisoners get out some day. The California sentencing statute makes it clear prison is there to punish them and not rehabilitate, despite CDCR's name change. Cui bono? Who benefits in such a system?
If you believe the myth that building a prison will improve a local economy, take this link.
If you believe the myth that Three Strikes is the solution to California's crime problem, then take this link.
If you don't care about these myths,
If you don't voice your opinion
Don't worry...
SuperCell still loves you!
In the meantime, SuperCell is...
since 11/7/07.
Copyright 2007 by Patrick G. Jackson. All Rights Reserved.