Much has been said about the closure of the California Correctional Center (CCC) in Susanville, California. You can read more about the CCC closure here and the city’s legal battle to save the prison here, here, and here. You can also find a discussion on rural prisons in general here.
Hundreds of miles away, down on the border of Arizona, the
small city of Blythe faces the same dilemma.
In December 2022, the California Department of Corrections
and Rehabilitation (CDCR) announced the planned closure of the Chuckawalla Valley
State Prison (CVSP) by March
2025.
The desert town of Blythe, population 18,000, has been the home of CVSP since
its construction in the 1980s.
Just like Susanville, Blythe could be described as “Prison Town, USA.” With over 800 employees, CVSP is the number
one employer in the area.
And just like Susanville, Blythe is the home of a second prison, the Ironwood
State Prison.
While not every dollar spent by the prison goes into the
coffers of Blythe or the hands of its residents, the prison still provides a major source of
revenue. One
study estimated that CVSP’s expenditures provided more than $65 million in economic
benefits.
High-paid CVSP employees are unlikely to find other jobs in
Blythe. Instead, they will seek reassignment to one of California’s other
prisons, taking advantage of a CDCR
policy meant to manage the department’s changing staffing needs. As one former prison
official commented to Calmatters.org, “where
am I going to get a job making that kind of money with a high school education?”
The ripple effect from losing CVSP will be felt throughout the community. Prison employees buy groceries, eat at restaurants, and
shop at local stores, causing multiplier effects in Blythe – the absence of
which will be devastating. A
recent study estimated that the anticipated drop in enrollment from outmigration will cost
the local school district nearly $5 million.
Local leaders also worry about the potential impact on the Palo
Verde Hospital, the nearest hospital to Blythe and several other communities.
It’s unclear if it will survive the closure. Likewise, Palo Verde College,
which has a successful inmate education program, is poised to lose approximately
250 students.
Recognizing the potential severe adverse effects of the
prison closure, the locals have banded together. “Save Chuck” has become a
rallying cry as well as the name of a local
coalition. State legislators representing Blythe
and the surrounding community wrote a
passionate letter to Governor Newsom pleading their case.
While the town of Blythe and Riverside County have asked the
state to keep CVSP open, the town of Norco, also in Riverside County, offered their
prison, the California Rehabilitation Center (CRC), as a sacrificial lamb.
Unlike CVSP, which was purpose-built as a modern prison in
the 1980s, the CRC was a resort before it was made into a prison in the 1920s.
CRC requires over $1 billion in anticipated repairs, more than double the cost
of maintaining CVSP. More importantly, CRC occupies economically valuable land
and facilities that could be developed for the benefit of Norco.
While local residents and officials want the state to keep CVSP
and close CRC, their cries have fallen upon a deaf statehouse. Governor Newsom refuses
to do either.
Instead, the state will work with Riverside County to
develop an economic resilience plan and provide the same kind of support
offered to Lassen County in the wake of the CCC closure.
The struggles of Susanville and Blythe illustrate a
recurrent problem for rural America, one which Professor Michael Carolan, in his article "The Rural Problem: Justice in the Countryside," referred to as rural misrepresentation. There is a disconnect between the wants
and needs of rural areas and state lawmakers seated in faraway urban areas.
Blythe’s Interim City Manager, Mallory Crecelius, told Calmaters.org that
she filed more than 40 public records requests after the closure was announced.
She wanted to understand the decision to shut down CVSP. Nobody had told her,
or the rest of Blythe, why their prison was on the chopping block.
In
a press release,
CDCR says they selected CVSP for closure after agency leadership
carefully evaluated the options for prison closures, pursuant
to the 2022-23 budget and Penal Code requirements, and took into account
several factors including cost to operate, impact of closure on the surrounding
communities and the workforce; housing needs for all populations; long-term
investments in state-owned and operated correctional facilities; public safety
and rehabilitation; and durability of the state’s solution to prison
overcrowding.
While that is an extensive list of considerations, CDCR failed to
seek input from the very people who would be impacted the most. Kathleen
Fitzpatrick, a councilwoman of nearby La Quinta,
lamented that the state would shut down CVSP “without even telling and
consulting with the community.”
As Governor Newsom continues to reform California’s criminal
justice system and state legislators continue their quest to curb state
spending, California’s leaders have an opportunity to learn from their mistakes
in Susanville and Blythe. Work with the local communities from the start.
Involve local leadership in the decision-making process. Give the people whose
jobs are at stake a fair opportunity to be heard.
Maybe that would prevent prolonged legal battles and
extensive campaigns to persuade the state to reverse course.
3 comments:
Closing down the CCC and CDCR are certainly significant decisions with far-reaching implications. The closings represent a shift in the state’s approach to corrections and rehabilitation, and will hopefully lead to a greater focus on rehabilitation and community-based programs. It is a shame that such advances will be at the expense of locals and employees. I agree that state and local authorities should continuously work with local communities and find ways to support those who lost their jobs. It will be important to invest in alternative economic opportunities such as transition programs, job training, and initiatives to attract new businesses. However, like we discussed last week, it will be difficult to balance economic growth with the gentrification of rural areas.
It is shocking to see the effects closing a prison can have not only on the economy, but indirectly the education and healthcare for Blythe. I am curious how similar “Prison Town USA” closures have affected neighboring communities possibly experiencing an influx of rural residents. I would also be interested to know whether or not the communities likely receiving the Blythe residents are themselves rural communities or urban centers, and how those communities might respond. The legal consciousness both the interim city manager and residents displayed was impressive, with the city manager going straight to public records requests and the residents composing a letter to the governor. This stands apart from how we have read about other rural communities’ view and use of the legal system.
Our in-class discussions and this post have really opened my eyes to a side of the prison system I had never stopped to consider before. I think California's shift toward more rehabilitative approaches to incarceration is ultimately a positive, but this feels very similar to the effects felt in small town when an extractive industry, such as logging or mining, leaves the area. And in many ways, the prison industry feels extractive as well. It's so important the California government (and governments everywhere) find ways to save small town economies and support rural residents as these industries leave, especially in ways that allow them to stay in the places they are connected to. I wish I had a clearer idea of what that might look like.
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