After the Prisons Close, Where Does That Leave Rural Communities?

Incarceration Is Big Business In Towns Like Susanville, Which Now Must Find a New Economic and Civic Path Forward

Efforts to close prisons need to come with assistance to rural communities that depend on these institutions, said panelists at a Zócalo/California Wellness Foundation event in the northeast California town that could see a prison close this year.

The event—titled “What Would the End of Mass Incarceration Mean for Prison Towns?”, which also was accompanied by a collection of essays on the subject—was held at Veterans Memorial Building, on Main Street in Susanville, California. Susanville has a population of 16,000, nearly 7,000 of whom live in its two prisons. The state …

by Joe Mathews | April 8, 2022

Out With Mass Incarceration and in With Mass Commerce

Can California Call It Progress When Rural Prisons Are Replaced With Retail Warehouses?

by Joe Mathews | September 21, 2021

As California starts closing prisons, what might open in their place?

I glimpsed one answer to that question while driving to Deuel Vocational Institution, between the San Joaquin County cities of …

Even After a Decade of Reforms, California’s Era of Mass Incarceration Is Far From Over

The State’s Progress in Reducing Prison Populations and Racial Disparities Is Real. So Are the Remaining Challenges

by Joe Mathews | February 25, 2021

Over the past decade, California has made real progress in reforming its criminal justice system and reducing its prison population, but the state’s era of mass incarceration is far from …

The Verdict Is in—California’s Dickensian Courts Are Failing Us

Our Clogged Legal System Creates Overcrowded Prisons, Underfunded Schools, and Housing Shortages

By Joe Mathews | May 8, 2017

Dig deep enough into any of California’s biggest problems, and you’ll eventually hit upon a common villain: our court system.

California’s housing shortage, its poverty, its poor business climate, and …

California Prison Sentences Don’t Work Any More

Why Now Is the Time to Change the Rules I Helped Make

By Michael B. Salerno | October 25, 2016

Just how much discretion should we give to officialdom when sentencing people to prison for crimes?

It’s a hard question, and, as I’ve learned firsthand, the answer can change through time. …

Playing Hooky From School Isn’t a Crime

The Path to Education Is Redemption, Not Prison

By Felicia Jones | October 19, 2016

To understand the disturbing connection between San Bernardino schools and prison, consider this: Our school district is one of only two in California with a police force that can arrest …

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