Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro has proposed closing two prisons to save the state $100 million per year. He also proposed closing two community corrections centers for another $10 million in annual savings. The Shapiro administration has said falling incarceration rates make the closures possible. The proposal has drawn varied reactions, reports the Pennsylvania Capital-Star. The prison guards’ union has come out strongly against it, though the Department of Corrections said that all current workers would be able to hold on to a job with the same pay if they choose. Advocates for prisoners in Pennsylvanians have expressed cautious optimism that the move could improve lives in prisons, depending on how it’s done. Lawmakers who represent districts with prisons in them have expressed concern about the economic impacts on nearby communities. The Department of Corrections says the specific facilities have yet to be chosen based on the recommendation of a “steering committee.”
Whether or not the move improves conditions for inmates by increasing access to rehabilitative programming and avoiding overcrowding in part depends on the amount of decreasing incarceration, as well as how the prisons slated for closure are chosen. How the plan is enacted could also have major impacts on communities with economies that rely on those prisons. Claire Shubik-Richards, executive director of the Pennsylvania Prison Society, a nonprofit that offers support services for incarcerated Pennsylvanians and their families, approves of the idea to close the prisons. “Most states, including Pennsylvania, have seen the footprint of their state prison population shrink,” she said. “So this is really, I would say, belatedly keeping with a national trend.” Pennsylvania’s 23 prisons hovered around full capacity; they're now operating at 82 capacity. There are more than 37,000 people in the prisons and one boot camp on any given day.
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