4 New Prison Holes
And Other Wasted Millions
By: Joseph Anderson
Behind a curtain of secrecy the Pennsylvania Department of
Imprisonment has undertaken over half a billion dollars
in prison expansion. Three new prisons, 6,300 prison beds,
are being constructed. In addition, another 818 beds are being
built in bigger, nastier prison holes!
Pennsylvania LOVES prisons. Pennsylvania LOVES making its citizens prisoners. For 7 tons of cash, 7,118 more prisoners will be warehoused! What a joy to the Department of Imprisonment! In the past the Department of Imprisonment used to con communities into welcoming new state prisons by lying to the communities. Never, ever believe anything that a prison official or the Department of Imprisonment tells you. They lie as a matter of official policy. The lawyers are especially dishonest.The big lie fed the communities was that a prison around the block would help the local economy. There's only a little truth in that. There's only a small benefit to the local econony. In reality, vast millions of prison money are shipped out-of-state. Many millions of dollars worth of prisoner commissary is bought from a Missouri firm, Keefe. Many more millions in prisoner telephone service are poured into the pockets of Global Tel*Link, an MCI racket apparently hidden in New Jersey. Lots more is given to American Food and Vending from central New York. Millions in prisoners' funds are sent to Texas for TV cable service. A fortune is contracted to a Florida outfit for prisoner medical service. Almost nothing, not foods, not office supplies, not clothing, not even arms and ammunition is bought locally. The local economy never really benefits. Pretty quickly, Pennsylvania communities got wise to the lies the department had been feeding them. All the communities really got were an influx of the undesirable personalities who become prison guards and prison staff. Who wants those dregs? Pennsylvania communities rebuffed efforts to have new prisons built in their areas. That was bad news for both the Department of Imprisonment and for the state government. Prison is Pennsylvania's only growing business. Everything else is dying. To get around local objections, the Department of Imprisonment decided to built their new prisons on the land already holding prisons. They would "double-up!" Most prisons have huge tracts of land. The Double-Up idea was simple. A second prison would be built neighboring an existing prison. So, a second prison is being constructed at Dallas in Northeastern Pennsylvania. "Dallas II" will comprise an additional 2300 prisoners, more that doubling the existing prison. Both Rockview and Huntingdon prisons in central Pennsylvania are getting new 2000 bed neighbors, "Rockview II" and "Huntingdon II." In addition, the prisons at Retreat and Pine Grove are spending almost $8,000,000 to build auxiliary prisons, but the exact sizes are not clear. If there's one thing Pennsylvania likes better that prisons, it's prison holes, the prisons within the prison where people can be especially severely tortured. The infamous women's prison at Cambridge Springs in Northwestern Pennsylvania is getting a new 230 bed hole. When the women object to sexual abuse, there will be plenty of space to warehouse them. Two hundred thirty bed holes are also being built at the children's prison at Pine Grove and at the men's prison at Coal Township. A special 128 cell hole is being built at the very remote, secretive prison at SCI-Forest in the deep woods of Northwestern Pennsylvania. Anything can (and is) done to the prisoners there. Each of these new holes will cost the taxpayers $10,800,000 to build and over a million dollars a year to operate. The one at Forest will cost even more, $12,400,000 to build. Aren't you delighted to spend your tax money that way? The Double-Up prisons at Dallas, Rockview and Huntingdon costs you a total of over $450,000,000! Additionally, they'll cost $120,000,000 a year there after to operate. Pennsylvania's prisons are a BIG business! AS if that weren't enough, the Department of Imprisonment is adding luxuries to several prisons in order to make them more comfortable for the bloated prison staff and the guards. A total of almost $15,000,000 is being spent on fixer-upers at Camp Hill prison, Muncy women's prison, Laural Highlands old men's prison, Mercer, Cresson and even the Frackville horror. It's all to make things cozier for the under-worked and overpaid guards. Almost all the money spent to operate the prisons goes to paying the guards and giving them lavish perks, rewards, benefits (their kids get free college!) and vacations. Of every dollar spent to operate a Pennsylvania prison, about 91¢ benefits the staff. Almost nothing actually benefits the prisoners. For example, only $1 a day is spent to feed a prisoner. In spite of who really benefits from the huge "corrections" budget, it's customary to express costs in terms of dollars per prisoner. Below follows a list of what each Pennsylvania prison cost before the construction of the Double-Up prisons and all the additional hole beds. When you look over the chart, keep in mind that a year at a really fine, first-rate university costs about $30,000. All but 3 Pennsylvania prisons cost more than that.
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