Oregon: Prisoners Organize to Save Prison Programs

The Oregon Department of Corrections (ODOC) is faced with a budget cut of over 10% in the Governor’s proposed budget for the next biennium (2001-2003). As a result, the department has chosen to cut programs for prisoners. Slated for cuts at all Oregon prisons are the following:

Morning Yard: this will mean that prisoners who work swing shift or graveyard will have NO opportunity to be outside, or get outside exercise.

All Inmate Activities Programs: This includes all organized sports (softball and basketball); programs such as the youth outreach panels that bring hundreds of youth and community members into the prisons for structured programs to build youth self-esteem and help youth avoid actions that lead to incarceration; anger management classes; inmate self-help programs such as the HIV/AIDS Awareness Program, NA and AA meetings, and service clubs like the Lifers Club and the Seventh Step Club; and all inmate cultural clubs such as the Chicano Culture Club, Lakota Oyate Ki, and Uhuru SaSa.
All Activities Staff: several union positions of activities and recreation staff will be eliminated by the department.

While all prisons will be severely affected, the most serious cuts will be made at the Oregon State Penitentiary (OSP), which has historically had more programs and activities (many of these programs were never allowed at the state’s newer prisons). Outside activists are lobbying the legislature and the ODOC to restore funding for these programs. At the same time, prisoners are also organizing to save the programs that make a difference in their lives.

The following is a message from Western Prison Project board member John Castro, who is a prisoner at OSP: 

“I would like to start off by sending greetings to everyone involved in the prison reform activist groups that are addressing the budget issue and Measure 11 reform with the legislature. I have been the President of the OSP Chicano Culture Club for the past four and a half years. We advocate for the Hispanic inmate population, and address issues that affect all incarcerated human beings.

Recently, the Governor proposed a budget that would eliminate the Activities Section in all Oregon prisons. I believe that the majority of the outside community has been kept in the dark as to the world within the prison walls. The functions that the organizations within the Activities Section provide far exceed the original expectations of those who created these opportunities for prisoners.

At OSP, the club presidents have met with the superintendent, and are meeting together every week. We are trying to create our own action plan to address the proposed program cuts. We are in unanimous agreement that the clubs and outreach programs are providing vital services to both prisoners and the outside community at a very low cost to the state. The state financial burden is limited to a few staff positions to supervise the inmate programs – we raise all the money needed for actual program activities. The clubs are all united in working together to keep all clubs and programs.

Because the stated reason for cutting these programs is financial, we call upon the outside community to work to restore funding for the programs through advocacy with the legislature and the department. For our part, we are focused on informing the legislature about the importance of the work we do, the lives we have touched, and the positive outcomes
of these programs.

A lot of our work is focused inside, communicating with our fellow prisoners. The perspective from inside the walls is that many prisoners feel the department has been engaged in a “take away this” and “take away that” policy. This has given rise to some hard feelings. But the club presidents are working hard to let our fellow prisoners know that outside activists are supporting us, and that we must take positive steps and not fall prey to negativity.

At OSP the administration has developed an Activities Restructuring Planning Committee, to look at ways to continue programs with some reduction in funding. All inmate clubs are working to identify ways we can cut back and still maintain the most important parts of our programs. We are willing to look at a range of options, and believe we can help identify some significant cost savings without eliminating these valuable programs. We are also encouraging the outside supporters of the various clubs and programs to get involved with the outside coalition, and make their voices heard. We believe the inmate self-help programs, the youth panels, and basic services like morning yard and sports are inexpensive ways to help prisoners improve their lives, and succeed on the outside once they are released. We call on our communities to support these programs in every prison in the state.”

This article originally appeared in the Winter 2001 issue of Justice Matters.

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