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Ellen Belcher is the Dayton Daily News opinion pages editor. She writes about state government, education, the environment, higher education and all things Dayton.
Martin Gottlieb is an editorial writer and columnist for the Dayton Daily News opinion pages. He focuses on the political process itself and does such national issues as war, the economy, taxes and Social Security, as well as a hodge-podge of local and state issues.Home > Blogs > A Matter of Opinion > Archives > 2011 > March > 25
Friday, March 25, 2011
Editorial: State can’t be bully in talks about prison
The state does not have Dayton over a barrel in negotiations about whether it can double the number of inmates at a prison in West Dayton. The city is in a position to look out for people who live in that neighborhood.
Last week corrections officials told Dayton’s mayor and city manager that they want to turn the Dayton Correctional Institution and the Montgomery Education Pre-Release Center into a women’s prison and move as many as 1,600 female inmates into those facilities.
The corrections department can’t unilaterally do that without violating the terms of its lease with Dayton, which limits the number of prisoners to 850.
Over the years, that lease has proven to be important insurance against the department running rough-shod over Dayton.
The prison warden, the local corrections union president and some people at City Hall are worried that if Dayton doesn’t roll over, the state could close the prison, putting more than 300 people out of work. Corrections Director Gary Mohr said that’s not the plan, but the worry is still palpable.
The jobs are important, but no more so than the prison’s neighbors.
West Dayton residents live with a landfill, a homeless shelter and the prison. They should not be treated like worry warts or whiners.
If the neighbors’ questions about security can be answered; if they’re persuaded that doubling the number of prisoners without adding staff can be done safely (because women are less of a threat than men), then let the discussion begin.
But the residents deserve answers from Director Mohr. He says he’s been deeply affected by telling corrections officers that they are losing their jobs because of the state’s budget cuts and the decision to sell several prisons. That concern speaks well of him, but he also needs to face the Daytonians who will live with the changes he wants.
Changing the rules so dramatically could be a slippery slope. What if the state decides later on that it’s restructuring again and wants twice as many men locked up in the facility?
That sort of possibility demands that any changes be put in a contract. And they have to be unambiguous — women only, for instance. If the department balks, that will be telling about its intentions.
Director Mohr emphasizes that Dayton is the only prison where double-bunking isn’t occurring and that the costs here are twice those at comparable low- and medium-security prisons. But that’s only half of the story.
Historically, Ohio built its prisons in rural areas, making it impossible for families to visit prisoners. Being totally cut off makes prisoners less likely to behave, and it gives them less incentive to take advantage of education programs so that they can make something of themselves when they get out.
Historically, the corrections department also had difficulty attracting minority workers to rural areas, which meant white guards were overseeing a lot of blacks. That created plantation-like cultures that made prisons all the more dangerous.
State Rep. C.J. McLin, a legendary black legislator who was an advocate of prison reform, insisted that the corrections department had to put some prisons in urban areas and that Dayton would take one. Many of his constituents felt horribly betrayed.
In exchange for putting a prison so close to residences, the state’s commitment was that Dayton would have a model prison — none of the crowding that invites violence and problems that could impact neighbors.
The corrections department now says these promises can’t be kept, that housing an inmate here costs $88 a day versus less than half that at similar institutions.
Director Mohr says he hopes “we can talk this through.”
His appeal needs to be this: We need your help. Times have changed since the prison opened in 1987. We’re trying to be creative. Making this a women’s facility is intended to soften the blow of what we’re asking. We’re not going to dump on you because the neighborhood is black and low-income. We know we’re asking a lot.
Dayton and the prison’s neighbors are not the enemy. They’ve been part of the solution to the corrections department’s problems in the past. The residents and that history need to be honored and respected.
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