California's overcrowded prisons

Gulags in the sun

The consequences of three decades of being “tough on crime”

See article

Readers' comments


the realflamestar

The problem for the Economist is the rate of crime in California is at an all time low. It not a problem for people like me who are against murder. Liberal hope people will fall for the War on Poverty trick which increased the rate of violent crime.


The problem with is California is that it does very little to improve factor that cause crime such as lack of economic opportunities in places like west oakland or south central as well as reforming prisoners and give them a alternative path to life once their out. What has happen is that people commit petty crimes in their youth got sent to prison, where they pick even worse habits; even if they want to reform, they can't find a legit job due their criminal record. Now they commit crime again, again... Once it is their 3rd time, the three strikes law hit and they got 25 to life... Hence the crowded prisons.

Is there a solution to this problem, I don't know. But it won't be easy, and needs to address fundamental issues rather than just devising ways to deal with prisoners and ex-cons.

the realflamestar

A bias piece if I every saw one. The article is a lie because the issue is budget cuts not taking murders off of the street. Too bad the Economist thinks the happiness of criminals is worth more then the lives of children. Under the system the Economist supports people were living in terror, they were incinerated, and America's cities were destroyed. If anyone commits a crime against someone who works for the Economist they shouldn't be allowed to ask for protection as they don't believe others should have it,

Dave W.

does the USA put illegals in their prisons?

if not, what countries accept the illegals?
just because they swam across the rio grande does not make them mexican.

my understanding is that the USA gives weapons and money to latin countries, and in return they tacitly accept the illegals. but they don't put them in prison, they let them migrate north to sneak across the border again. and the cycle continues.

what influence do mexican drug cartels have on the size of the CA prison population?


We need to get "smart on crime". Prison is not the answer. Education from basics to job training for jobs better than minumum wage will solve more social problems than any prison ever will. Rehabilitate rather than punish. Give hope for a better future. Send home the sick and elderly from the over-crowded holes we call prison. Send drug problems to drug rehab hospitals for hope in solving the problems. Reward success as it what we are looking for in every inmate. Get the mentally ill who are not capable of conforming into hospitals equipped to deal with their problems. Solutions abound and need to be utilized. Get smart on crime and send thousands of inmates home to relieve the taxpayers and get rehabilitation through community resources.

Supremacy Claus

There is no evidence that poverty, lack of education, undertherapizing cause an increase in crime. In Cairo, they have crowding, poor education, low yearly incomes. Yet they have a low crime rate. Here we have the opposite, and a high crime rate.


We definitely have the highest rate of prisons in CA & USA, inmates in the world, more than China, Mexico, Russia, etc. You can't lock away inmates and throw away the keys while being tough on crime and expect for it to just go disappear! We are talking about human beings crammed into a cesspools of filth... unconstitutional prison health care system, this equals to the public being exposed to this disease causing environment, while producing an insidious vicious cycle of recidivism along with enabling violence in prison


The poor confused souls who post messages calling for ever tougher law enforcement are fearful, angry, uninformed, prejudiced, hypocritical, and inconsistent. They are the last ones who would be willing to pay more in taxes to cover the costs. And money to improve schools, build more recreation facilities, and hire social workers to help *prevent* young people from joining gangs and becoming criminals? You can't be serious.


The Prison Industrial Complex has been hard at work, coming for your child, family member, it doesn't discriminate they welcome the most vulnerable "Acute Mentally Ill" incarcerating and criminalizing the Mentally Disabled. The New Asylums ...PRISONS, between the Corruption of CA Prisons and the State Mental Hospitals, they are guaranteed to bring in MUCH Revenue!


With the loss of the beds at Chino SP due to a guard instigated riot the overcrowding at the prisons will become worse if that is possible. Those inmates who qualify under AB 1539 (compassionate release) must be released NOW! Lower risk and parole violators must be released now also. We cannot maintain the status quo! Demand release now. Failure to do something will result in more riots, or no hope of rehabilitation because inmates will be moved to prisons far away, the consequence of such a move will be loss of family contact which is crucial to successful reintegration into free society.



Alot of people have the wrong picture of a parolee, people think that when they get released from prison all they want to do is sit around and do nothing,thats so wrong, almost all parolees are given papers to report to there parol agent, then from there they are given instructions to go register as a drug offender or to start looking for work. But here is where the problems start with the backround checks the employers give the parolee is denied a job, if he has a family to try to support thats one strike against him, if he tries to find a place to live backround check thats a second strike he cannot find a place to live, then if he has not completed the program the parole officer wants thats a third strike and back to prison he goes, Now dose that seem fair to anyone after he has done his time and come home to be denied the pursuit of happiness to be able to get a job and to be able to take over his reponsibilites. People don't understand the whole picture they only see part of it when the parolee has given up because all the doors for him are closed.Then when he gets to go back to prison to the overcrowding the torture and the abuse by CDC Officers which most people do not beleive that these so called peace officers are capable of the cruelties that they inflick on prisoners, where does he turn to the guards no the politians no their only looking at the money and could care less about the suffering of the prisoners,then the public is told that these broke in spirit and body and mind are to dangerous to be out in the public so where are they wanted with there families that love them thats where!!!!!!!!

Supremacy Claus

It is also pretty offensive to the memory of the millions who lost their lives in the Gulag, to compare crowding and inconvenient conditions to the intentional eradication of millions of political opponents.

Paul Marks

For years the Economist has been saying "just because we oppose the death penality does not mean we are soft on crime - we support locking up the criminals".

Now this has been expossed as a lie. Very many people are alive and well today because the criminals in California have been kept behind bars - but the Economist does not just want the criminals not executed, it wants them free to be able to walk the streets, robbing, raping and murdering at will.

No that is not a too extreme way of putting the matter. Remember the Economist is in favour of "gun control" (which means that people will not be able to defend themselves against criminals) and is against the execution of criminals, and now (it is plain) is against locking them up till they are no longer a threat. So it IS the case that the position of the Economist is that criminals should be allowed to roam the streets of American towns and cities - attacking an unarmed population.

No doubt the Economist believes that crime is not a choice - and that criminals need "help" (job training, colour television, whatever) as part of a process of "rehabilitation".

Theodosius West

Supremacy Claus/Dr. Petersilia: Understood on the context of the comment about California's prison system rate of rehabilitation being "one of the worst in the world".

Further, it is encouraging to know you have indeed done your homework on those bottom dwellers of the penal world: China and Russia. I would have expected no less from a member of your fine institution, and Stanford is certainly that.

So in fairness, I withdraw my previous criticism, or at least the part directed at the doctor. The Economist, however, is still on the hook for not making it clear or giving it the necessary context: shame on The Economist!


Prison~incarceration~industrial complexes~prisoners~inmates~guards~CCPOA dues~many guards~more prisoners~more guards~California~Green wall~bully guards...BIG MONEY!

Supremacy Claus

Dr. Petersilia replies to the above. This is rational and reassuring.

I NEVER made the statement that CA prisons were the worst in the world -- of course, they are not, given conditions in many other countries. And I have visited prisons in Russia and China so know that California prisons, by comparison, are much better. My statement was regarding rehabilitation PROGRAMMING, noting that California's programs (e.g., substance abuse, work) used to be models for the nation, and were often exported worldwide (e.g., Therapeutic Communities). In recent years, those programs have dwindled and now our "model" rehabilitation programs are a skeleton of what they were historically. THAT was the discussion I had with this reporter -- NOT related to overall conditions of confinement in California prisons. If we were talking about that issue, rather than specifically rehabilitation programming, U.S. prisons would fare well compared to many other nations, and California prisons might even fare well when compared to some U.S. prisons. I am sorry that these views were not discussed fully in this short article. I hope this clarification helps.

Joan Petersilia

P.S. Yes, high recidivism rates are caused not only by the conditions in prison and prison policies, but also by the underlying criminality posed by the offenders. I have written about this repeatedly in my articles, most recently in a lengthy article entitled, "California's Correctional Paradox of Excess and Deprivation," Crime and Justice, University of Chicago (2007).

I would greatly appreciate it. In the interest of informed dialogue, I try and make myself available to credible journalists. Unfortunately, sometimes the brevity of the articles they write leaves all of the important nuances out and makes one look like an idiot!

Theodosius West

That riot sounds like nasty business, and the statistics about California's prisons make clear that the state has serious problems. But for that Stanford "expert" to say that the penal system there has become "one of the worst in the world" is absolutely asinine!

I would recommend she deepen her knowledge by visiting prisons in places like China, Mexico, Russia, etc. Then even the worst conditions in California facilities would suddenly seem country club-like.

One must wonder about her qualifications on the subject after she proffers such disingenuous hyperbole like that. Shame on The Economist for letting such a statement go unchallenged.

Supremacy Claus

"The result is a disaster, says Ms Petersilia." Dr. Petersilia is not a lawyer, but a sociologist at Stanford Law School. She advises the current Governor.

She implies that Cali prisons cause the higher recidivism rate. This is an extraordinary statement. Release a prisoner, and his past Cali prison influences him to commit more crimes than other prisons in the US. Shouldn't such an extraordinary claim require proof? And how would poor conditions in a prison increase the chance of committing more crime months or years later?

Is there an equal possibility that only the worst, busiest, and punishment resistant of the criminals are being sent to Cali prison, and that the severity of their antisocial personality disorder causes them to commit more crimes, despite their bad experiences in Cali prison?


Criminal justice is a very lucrative business in CA, and a lot of folks will fight tooth and nail to keep it that way.



Products and events


Take our weekly news quiz to stay on top of the headlines

