Repurposing Prisons

The Sentencing Project reports on the range of new purposes for prisons closed due to the drops in prison population over the past 5 years. Since 2011, at least 22 states have closed or announced closures for 94 state prisons and juvenile facilities, resulting in the elimination of over 48,000 state prison beds and an estimated cost savings of over $345 million. The new uses include a movie studio (Arthur Kill Correctional Facility, New York), a distillery (Brushy Mt. State Penitentiary, Tennessee), urban redevelopment (Dawson State Jail, Texas), and a variety of reentry centers and homeless shelters in Florida, North Carolina, and elsewhere.

 

Leave a Reply