No More Prisons

The Arizonan and Harper's Magazine each have an opinion regarding the economy of Florence, Arizona.


From the Arizonan:

There are so many attractions to go visit when you are in Florence. The McFarland State Park is the
first courthouse built in town. The courthouse held many historic trials. Today you can learn more
about those trials and about the one of the largest POW camps that was located near town. The park was named after Ernest W. McFarland, who represented the state for many years. The Pinal County Historical Society Museum has lots of exhibits ranging from Indian artifacts to descriptions of life as a prisoner in Florence. There is also a display showcasing 100 varieties of barbed wire.

From this month's Harper's:

Since 1982, the town has repeatedly expanded its border to include prisons being built beyond them,
inflating its census count and thereby its state and federalfunding. In the meantime, five new prisons have opened or expanded within town limits. Today, three fourths of Florence's 21,000 residents are incarcerated, though little of the money they bring in is spent on them [see back bage of Harpers for more -dj] ... Money, however, isn't the only prize. Although in forty-eight states prisoners cannot vote, their numbers influence the drawing of congressional and state districts. And the resulting power shifts can be dramatic, given that most prisoners are minorities from urban, Democratic areas and reside in typically white, rural, Republican enclaves hundreds, even thousands, of miles from home.

The American Friend's Service Committee notes that there is also a public health crisis in Florence prisons, and the Honolulu Advertiser details the problems public officials are having with the private prison in Florence that houses Hawaiian inmates only CCA/Arizona would take in.



And while we're redrawing voting districts, why not return the right to vote to prisoners? (one in every seven African American males is ineligible to vote)