User:Hattiegroat/sandbox

My edits are in bold.

Prisons in California

= Prisons in California = The California State Prison System is administered by the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation Division of Adult Institutions, which had 136,000 inmates as of 2014. The state of California also relies on private and leased prisons. Currently, there are 35 Adult Institutions in California . The number of California prisoners in private out of state facilities is around 8,763 and 4,170 are housed in leased facilities within the state. The Corrections Corporation of America leases the California City Correctional Center. The GEO Group is another private owner of facilities in California, such as the Golden State Modified Community Correctional Facility.

Prison growth and overcrowding[edit]
The California incarceration rate has ranged from about 0.1% of the population to about 0.5%. From 1982 to 2000, California's prison population increased 500%. To accommodate this population growth, the state of California built 23 new prisons at a cost of $280 million to $350 million apiece. (California's prisons are public and are financed by the Public Works Department and operated by the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.) (<-- move to spending sub heading) In 2015, California had a prison population of 129,593, which was lower than the peak prison population of 173,942 in 2006. (add space) Beginning in 2006, when the prison population in California was at its peak, the state used out-of-state facilities to house inmates. California's prison population in 2015 made up roughly 9.74% of the United States' total prison population, making up the second largest contribution to the country's prison population (second to Texas which contributed 12.32%). The state funds the prison system's annual costs. In 2005 the state rate of incarceration was 616 per 100,000 adults, or about .6%. '''The prisoner population in California as of 2017 is around 115,000 inmates. Of the 35 state owned facilities, 13 are beyond the Supreme Court mandated target population.'''

-added incarceration rate link to US incarceration ratesWeuerle (talk) 00:47, 6 December 2019 (UTC)

Of the prisoners in California, two-thirds are African-American and Latino. Approximately 17% were born abroad. Most prisoners come from California's high density population areas, however incarceration rates in less populated areas are higher than from more congested areas. About 62% of inmates in 2005 were sentenced from Southern California. The largest racial group in California prisons was whites from 1980 to 1986, blacks from 1986 to 1992, and Hispanics from 1992 to the present.

Conditions[edit]
'''Historically, California's correctional systems show little interest in the wellbeing of incarcerated individuals. As a result, rehabilitation programs are not supported and incarcerated offenders are often over punished .'''

-this source seems really interesting, does it focus on the "little interest" and "over punishment" of inmates, or just overcrowding? Weuerle (talk) 01:05, 6 December 2019 (UTC)

In 2011, 6,000 California prisoners partook in a hunger strike to protest the conditions to which they were subject. Prisoners refused to eat until their five demands were met. They ask


 * 1) Removal of collective penalties and an end to departmental misconduct,
 * 2) Revoke the debriefing policy, consisting of gang-affiliated inmates divulging information on their gang before being released,
 * 3) Terminate long-term solitary confinement,
 * 4) Serve nourishing and balanced meals, and
 * 5) Implement a variety of rehabilitation programs and privileges for Security Housing Unit (SHU) inmates.

The protest gained traction in California prisons; at its peak, over 12,000 prisoners were taking part in the hunger strike. The strike ended after 20 days when the California Department of Corrections & Rehabilitation announced that they would reassess every inmate in the Security Housing Unit. The California Department of Corrections & Rehabilitation met few, if any, of the prisoners demands. By 2013, only 382 of the 4,527 SHU inmates residing in California cases had been reexamined, and of those 382 inmates about half were released.

On May 23, 2011 the Supreme Court ruled in a 5-4 decision in Brown v. Plata that overcrowded conditions in California prisons constituted a violation of the Eighth Amendment, which bans cruel and unusual punishments. The decision upheld a lower court decision which found that "an inmate in one of California's prisons needlessly dies every six or seven days due to constitutional deficiencies." The Court found that, at the time of the lower court trial, California jailed nearly twice as many prisoners as its prisons were designed to hold. In the majority opinion for the Supreme Court, Justice Anthony Kennedy wrote:"After years of litigation, it became apparent that a remedy for the constitutional violations would not be effective absent a reduction in the prison system population or expanded facilities."

Prison spending[edit]
'''California's prisons are public and are financed by the Public Works Department and operated by the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. (<-- moved from background part)'''

7% of California's budget was spent on corrections during Fiscal Year 2013-2014. As of 2016, California spends approximately $64,000 per prisoner per year.

Incarcerated population[edit]
A 2003 article said that the California Department of Corrections initially classifies inmates into black, white, Asian and other.

'''California's prison population is not representative of the state's population. Although African Americans only represent 5.6% of the state's population, they comprise 28.5% of the state's male prisoners. Latino men are also more likely to be incarcerated. Asian and white populations are underrepresented in the prison system. These numbers are reflective of large ethnic disparities where incarceration is concentrated among poorly educated minority men living in or from destitute communities. Research shows that incarceration not only impairs individual's health, romantic prospects, civic engagement, and economic well-being, but also is capable of maintaining or exacerbating social inequality among incarcerated individuals and those tied to them.'''

'''Women represent a smaller number of incarcerated individuals in California than men. California has three major women's prisons: Central California Women's Facility,Valley State Prison for Women, and the California Institution for Women. Collectively, these facilities are home to over 8,000 prisoners, well over their design capacity. Similar to the racial statistics of incarcerated men, minority groups are grossly overrepresented. Women in these institutions are subject to a variety of discrimination practices. Female prisoners have reported frequent harassment from guards, privacy violations, and are forced to pay inflated prices for basic hygiene products.'''