Dangerous Shortcut: Closing minimum-security prisons puts the public safety at risk.

DANGEROUS SHORTCUT
Closing minimum-security prisons puts the public safety at risk..

It’s never been a good idea to release an inmate directly from a maximum-security prison right out onto the street, but that’s exactly the shortcut Gov. Paterson’s budget proposal takes.

The Executive Budget would close the Lyon Mountain minimum-secure facility in Clinton County, the minimum-security unit at Butler Correctional Facility in Wayne County, the minimum-security Moriah Shock Incarceration Correctional Facility in Essex County and the medium-security Ogdensburg Correctional Facility in St. Lawrence County.

These are facilities that provide inmates with the much needed transitional adjustment from maximum confinement to, eventually, a second chance in their communities.

The state Department of Correctional Services (DOCS) is charged with preparing inmates who have serious educational, mental, and drug and alcohol problems for successful re-entry into the community. Closing these facilities will be a major roadblock in reaching that goal.

While DOCS is committed to working with the displaced employees to find positions within the department, closing these facilities would have a serious negative effect on workers, their families, their communities and the incarcerated men who will suddenly be faced with trying to put their lives back together upon release.

Call 1-877-255-9417 today.

Tell lawmakers to stop the closures of DOCS facilities. It’s a matter of public safety.

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