Granholm to California: We'll Take Your Prisoners!

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LANSING – Gov. Jennifer Granholm offered empty beds in Michigan prisons to house inmates from California today as the Golden State seeks solutions to prison overcrowding and a massive budget deficit.



Granholm sent a letter to California Gov. Arnold Schwarznegger after speaking to him personally, in which she called the offer an “opportunity [[that) has great potential and could be mutually beneficial.� Granholm said several empty facilities and soon-to-be-vacated prisons in Standish and Muskegon could be available.


Califorrnia faces the prospect of being forced to release tens of thousands of inmates to ease overcrowding, even as it addresses a $24.3 billion deficit.


Granholm’s letter said terms of a prison space sharing plan could be worked out in negotiations.

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Interesting idea, however if California is potentially so bad off that it will be out of cash by the end of July, I doubt they will be able to afford transporting prisoners to Michigan, and paying the staff to watch them.



http://freep.com/article/20090629/NE...Calif.+inmates

Gitmo to da UP

Didn't the guv threaten to CLOSE Michigan prisons as part of her overall tax hiking scheme for this fall?

Let's worry about the cream-of-the-crap we here in Michigan first, before taking in other states' problems.

I think the object is to lease out now closed prison facilities in Michigan to California. So basically CA would pay to run the facilities and have their inmates shipped here, plus give the state some sort of other fees to make if worth Jenny's while..

so the Gitmo prisoners are out of the question, but san quentin is not.. heh heh.. curious.. we'll see what happens..

Prisoners will be counted in next year's census at their place of residence. The plan to attract prisoners from all of the US will help in Michigan's population count.

Arnold tried to ship prisoners out of state a couple of years ago and a prisoner law suite stop the process. I think The Arnold gave up on the idea.

The Sacramento Bee is reporting that it cost more per year per prisoner in CA than any other state, so shipping them out of state would be a cost savings. Sound like a win / win to me.

An interesting idea. What will make it really interesting is that if prisoners are moved from CA to MI, their family members and some of their homies will be making the trip also. Get ready for La Eme, Aryan Brotherhood, 18th Street, the Longos, Crips, and the rest of the cliques, sets, and crews from the SoCal gang lifestyle. Thanks Jen!

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Originally Posted by raptor56

I think the object is to lease out now closed prison facilities in Michigan to California. So basically CA would pay to run the facilities and have their inmates shipped here, plus give the state some sort of other fees to make if worth Jenny's while..

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I caught that.

My take is that California is due to run out of money in a few days.

With no money to pay its own bills, how does anyone expect them to pay other states to house their inmates?

CA is no different than Michigan in that funding for various functions of state government come from different pots. In CA's case, their problem is that too many of the funding sources are tied to specific allocations and the state has no discretion on how to move the money. The problem is not so much that they don't have any money but they don't have any money to spend in certain areas. No idea whether prisons are impacted or not. It may be that the prison money isn't part of the shortfall.

"What will make it really interesting is that if prisoners are moved from CA to MI, their family members and some of their homies will be making the trip also."

Just like all of the gang members and families from Detroit have set up shop in the various rural communities in Michigan where the prisons are located? Stupid.

Stupid, huh? Gang culture in California is an entirely different animal than what you'd find in Michigan.

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Originally Posted by Red Devil

Stupid, huh? Gang culture in California is an entirely different animal than what you'd find in Michigan.

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Lets not be so naiive to think that anyone who is on parole, has a record, has been identified as being in a gang, or is out on early release.... can visit other incarcerated prisoners.... :rolleyes:

As for family visitors... they'd be subject to the same scrutiny for visits

And just think of the spin offs of this... the visitors will have to stay somewhere, eat, rent cars [[or at least tank up). Lots of possible spin off business for catering to the "law abiding" visitors.

Not every incarcerated person has a family like Ma Parker and her boys...

My question is what happens when the prisoners have served their sentence? Are they shipped back to California or are they released onto the streets of Michigan? If they just walk out of the gate and into the community, you're going to have a lot of harden repeat offenders chillin like a villain in our fine state. This will cause an even greater stress on our already bare bones law enforcement and prison system.

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Originally Posted by raptor56

My question is what happens when the prisoners have served their sentence? Are they shipped back to California or are they released onto the streets of Michigan? If they just walk out of the gate and into the community, you're going to have a lot of harden repeat offenders chillin like a villain in our fine state. This will cause an even greater stress on our already bare bones law enforcement and prison system.

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Raptor56... we should just make it manditory that folks are only to be released in January or February.... any Californian let out onto the streets in one of those 2 months will have one look at our Michigan winters, and be on the first bus back to California! :rolleyes:

That's really a silly question, raptor.

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Originally Posted by Red Devil

Stupid, huh? Gang culture in California is an entirely different animal than what you'd find in Michigan.

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I believe the gang culture that would be transported to Michigan is so strong it would take some special adjustments and accomodations by the Dept of Corrections. I believe that would be a more difficult situation than if the Gitmo detainees were transferred here.

There's a big difference between claiming that the prisoners will be bringing their gang culture with them and that their family and friends would follow them to Michigan. The first point is valid. The second is ridiculous.

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Originally Posted by Novine

There's a big difference between claiming that the prisoners will be bringing their gang culture with them and that their family and friends would follow them to Michigan. The first point is valid. The second is ridiculous.

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I agree. I think that before this plan is fully accepted, the governor and other decision makers need to consider the real downsides that this plan may bring. It is unquestionable that moving prisoners from location to location has helped to spread gangs not only within states but also across states. [[It will take some refreshing on my part, but if anyone would like examples I can provide them.) And it is unquestionable that the gangs in California are an entirely different ballgame from those found in most other regions in the country.

The smaller the Prison Industrial Complex gets the better. They can keep their prisoners.

This makes me sick to my stomach. I know someone who does prison ministry at the prison near Ryan and Six Mile [[can't think of the name of the place). He said that they are pushing through criminal sexual conduct prisoners by the THOUSANDS right now. They are not serving their full term, they are just going back out of the street. He sees them in his visiting session he has there, then they are gone. The prisoners are telling him that they are all CSC inmates and they are out the revolving door before you know their names.

And to think that we are making room for paying customers while putting thousands of CSCs out on the streets. Yep - makes me want to be ill.

"And to think that we are making room for paying customers while putting thousands of CSCs out on the streets. Yep - makes me want to be ill."

Too bad it's not true. The number of prisoners to be released is nowhere near that number. But if you want to be sick, be sick at our prison and criminal justice policies that has resulted in a prison system that is the largest and most expensive in the Midwest and is destroying the state's ability to fund priorities like higher education, K-12 education and state troopers. Everyone wanted to be "tough on crime" and build more prisons. Now we've got that kind of system and the state budget is going down the drain thanks to it.

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Originally Posted by cman710

... it is unquestionable that the gangs in California are an entirely different ballgame from those found in most other regions in the country.

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This is accurate. Here in Cali the social aspect of gang participation is sometimes celebrated and prominently displayed [[worn on the sleeve, if you will). It is about belonging to a powerful and influential entity. Economics is only one of several enticing elements.

During my youth living in the motor I knew a few serious gangsters and most where relatively low-key. Economics was primary for most of them. Many were reluctant or even quietly apologetic criminals, if you can understand that. A few were actually what we'd call crazy in the head. As I had no impact on their finances, I was not a threat.

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Originally Posted by Novine

There's a big difference between claiming that the prisoners will be bringing their gang culture with them and that their family and friends would follow them to Michigan. The first point is valid. The second is ridiculous.

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You've never talked to police officers that deal with gangs and the drug culture have you? That's exactly what happens. Look up the Chamber Brothers. You may remember them from the late eighties. They were the knuckleheads that videotaped themselves with a shopping cart full of cash. Or, watch American Gangster. It was a true story.

Family and friends don't follow, my ass. Spend some time on the Southwest side.

"Give me your tired, your poor,

Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"

Granholm version

"Give me your murderers,your crackheads, Your rapists yearning to strike again, The worst that the California Prison System has to offer, Send these, the Bloods, the Crips, Gangbanging Bastards to me, I lift my pen beside my census sheet!"