Open Letter to Janet Brewer – Governor

When Prison Management go Flat Line - the Inmates get Angry & Bolder

It is very likely the Arizona governor and legislature will flat line the prison budget sooner than expected. It is today exceeding over 1 billion dollars a year and it is obvious the state can’t sustain such financial growth. The downsize of this phenomena is that state prison management, projects, programs and other prison related expenditures must be curtailed and draw back resources allocated over the past four years to ensure a rapid and aggressive growth in bed space and prisoner numbers.

It is time to stop this insane funding for more prison money as it has already skyrocketed past normal expectations and fiscal demands. Arizona must hold the line on spending and that includes holding prison growth flat over the next year or so otherwise politicians will be forced to admit their mass incarceration agenda has drowned the state of financial debt and insolvency,

Unfortunately, the current prison management team will make recommendations that end all forms of reform, rehabilitation and educational programs that include substance abuse and other self-improvement programs or studies. It will unwisely reduce prison expenses that will create a severe and potentially violent backdrafts on the state’s prison population and create more tension and violence than ever before. History will reflect this throughout our prisons systems.

Under current practices and laws, Arizona prisoners serve longer prison terms than many other state prison systems. That means more growth and more problems. Arizona has no intention of changing the good time law that mandates inmates serve 85 % of their sentence and will need to finance for more growth here in the next few months to avoid turning them away from doing prison time. Little effort has been placed on alternative sentencing and community based supervision.

Policy changes are pending and more efforts will be put on controlling the purse strings to avoid overspending and not meeting constitutional mandates for healthcare, food and other auxiliary services. Their utility bills, already out of control will mount and their ability to get credit on payment of such will be closely securitized by those providing the services. Physical plant and waste water resources are stretched beyond reasonable limits already and ready for failure. Prisons without utilities are prone to be set on fire out of protest and revolutionary thinking that puts staff in harm's way.

The policy changes that reduce prison expansion are critical, but without investing in our local public safety infrastructure, we will not likely occur within time to prevent a prison riot or disturbance of grave proportions. There is no current system in place to oversee internal prison related crimes and accountability in sustainable ways until it is too late and legislators will demand transparency and accountability after the fact and destruction.

The governor needs a bold agenda and the Legislative body needs to begin to take full responsibility for what is about to happen inside Arizona prisons this summer. It will be one of the most severe impacts on public safety as this will eventually be one of the most impactful issues the legislature will attempt to tackle.

Here is hoping they can get done before the riots start.