Spinning Prison Politics

The Art of Spinning Colorado's Prison Politics



CANON CITY, Colorado, The propaganda arm of the Colorado Department of Corrections was at it again last week. Michael Booth of the Denver Post wrote about the decrease in the Colorado prison population and the projected savings six years from now if the trend of a decreasing population holds -- however, history and current CDOC/state expenditures ensure this decrease is temporary.

Booth's article was either incredibly bad journalism, or a spin job for Ari Zavaras, the CDOC prison czar. Let's start with the numbers and see if we can figure it out. Looking at Booth's creative interpretation of budget projections and cost savings, one would think he was auditioning for a job on Wall Street. Booth extols an eye-popping $146.3 million decrease in prison spending based on inmate population estimates in 2016. There are two problems with Booth's reporting, first he uses a 2006 CDOC population estimate and mixes it with 2009 cost projections for savings in the year 2016 -- basically, cherry-picking the years and reports that produce the biggest perceived savings.

The next problem with Booth's analysis is that he projects the mild, and unprecedented for Colorado, decrease in prison population in the last 12 months as a trend that will continue into the future. This short trend is at best a hopeful assumption, and certainly not borne out by historical statistics. In the business world, financial analysts use 10, 5, and l-year historical analysis to project future earnings. What Booth and CDOC are doing is like a stockbroker trying to sell AIG stock by showing the public pre-bust financial reports.

The short term decrease in prison population was caused by the Governor's early release program -- fought publicly by the Post, CDOC, and law enforcement -- and judges sentencing more convicts to probation instead of to prisons already filled to capacity. CDOC's true intent is hidden poorly behind these short-term population decreases. If Zavaras really thought or wanted the prison population to decrease as projected, why ask for $10 million to open another prison, and why get 190 new CDOC positions authorized? Zavaras and the state are not down- sizing the prison population; they are ramping up for an increase. And this in a year when K-12 education was cut $260 million.

Booth quotes Governor Ritter as saying that programs, mental health, and job training are the keys to lower prison numbers. However, Booth ignores the fact that according to the Colorado Justice Report for Spring 2010, there was a $3 million cut in vocational and educational programs from 2009-2010, and a $1.8 million cut in parolee services. Meanwhile, the state already ranked worst in the nation for mental health treatment in 2009, is closing mental hospitals and giving those hospitals beds in -- guess where -- the maximum security prison, CSP II. Why treat mental illness when the state can lock it away for 23 out of 24 hours a day.

Harsh treatment is nothing new for Colorado's prison system, especially for the mentally ill. According to CDOC's own numbers, 5 percent of Colorado's prison population is held in segregation -- the national average is 1 - 2 percent. Of the 5 percent held in solitary confinement for years, 37 percent are mentally ill and only receive minimal treatment; assessment, medication, and crises management. With no mental health treatment, I'm guessing ''crises management'' includes drugs and restraints.

Another mental health failure is the treatment and release of non-violent sex offenders. Colorado law requires treatment and release of offenders by their bottom sentencing number, yet prison mental health programs are not funded or motivated to accomplish this legislative mandate. To make matters worse, the parole board seems to have no confidence in the CDOC treatment providers because they have paroled only .7 percent of those eligible and recommended by the CDOC's own mental health department.

This failure of treatment and parole is the worst in the nation; some non-violent victimless offenders regularly serve 8-10 years on a 2-year sentence. This deliberate withholding of treatment and unwillingness of CDOC and the parole board to abide by the law has caused gross civil rights abuses resulting in a class action Federal law suit against the state.

Harsh treatment is not limited to mental health issues, the entire CDOC population suffers from one of the harshest prison systems in the nation. According to an article in February's "The Colorado Lawyer" on average Colorado inmates serve 70 percent of their sentence; the legislative intent and national standard is 50 percent. The extra 20 percent of time served in Colorado prisons represents millions of taxpayer dollars the legislature never intended to spend.

The prison population in Colorado is not going to experience a long-term decline or cost savings as Booth suggests; CDOC, law enforcement, and the Post -- for whatever reason-- don't want that, and are building a future with more prison beds, not less. Why would CDOC push to open a new prison if they really thought the prison population was going to decrease -- they wouldn't. If Booth and the Post were responsible journalists they would investigate and report the truth rather than trying to spin the facts for CDOC.

In Booth's article he writes that according to CDOC the "Boot Camp" program is closing because of declining demand due to the minor decrease in prison population, yet in an earlier statement, CDOC said it was closing the popular program because it was ineffective and they wanted to shift the $1 million to help fund the early spinning of CSP II. You can't have it both ways fellas -- either it is ineffective or there is no demand. If you are going to spin, at least have a consistent story.