California Prison System and the Prisons "Fixing" According to Gilmore

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California Prison System
California has the highest population of prisoners. Initially, prisons in California were meant for rehabilitation and reforms, to reduce crime rates and ensure safety. However, California used economic and geographic conditions to facilitate the exponential growth of prisons. California deliberately invested in prisons, which saw the population growth of prisoners rise to 500% between 1982- 2000 ( Gilmore, 30). Even though it was a political strategy to decentralize cities, the prisons provided employment with the Department of Correction being the largest state agency employer, with up to 54000 employees. In addition, there was the availability of surplus capital, which was ready to be invested, the availability of land, which the owners were willing to sell for a profit, and the availability of labor from the urban poor to populate the prison. Further, prison expansion was believed to employ the rural population, who were to form a community near the prisons.