Six Californias, Research Paper Example

The Six Californias proposal is an initiative that intends to split the state of California into six smaller states. While this plan is not currently qualified for the ballot, enacting this plan will have many consequences on the local governments in the potentially split areas. Of primary concern is the number of state prisons available within the state in addition to their locations. Splitting the state into six separate territories may mean that some states will have an adequate number of correctional facilities compared to the crime rates, while others would need to establish new infrastructure in order to ensure that law enforcement will be effective.

Currently, the state of California has 34 adult prison institutions in addition to 3 youth facilities (California Department of Corrections & Rehabilitation, 2014). There are very few prisons located in the north of the state and the southeast, and two of the youth facilities are concentrated within a single region. Therefore, local law enforcement agencies must work together in order to ensure that young criminals in need of correction can be transported to the proper institution. It is also essential to consider that these facilities are expensive to maintain. According to the Legislative Analyst’s Office, the total annual costs for adult detention amounts to $2.3 billion, adult probation is $500 million, juvenile detention costs $870 million, and juvenile probation costs $440 million (Legislative Analyst’s Office, 2005). The operations cost of each facility varies based on the number of offenders received in it per year. It costs up to $28,000 per person for these facilities to house adult offenders and up to $65,000 per person for juvenile offenders.

Currently, California prisons are distributed in a manner that reflects the population of each county. However, since the state funds all of them, prisoners can be transferred to and from each center depending upon the needs of the judicial branch. Furthermore, juvenile prisoners can be transferred to the youth facilities from anywhere within the state. If California were to break into 6 separate states, the northernmost state would only have 3 adult institutions, the one immediately south of it would have 7 adult institutions and 1 juvenile facility, the area to the southwest would have 2 adult institutions, and the area to the east of this would have 9 adult facilities. The most southwest most territory would hold 1 adult prison and 1 juvenile center, while the southeast most territory would hold 9 adult prisons. Some of these facilities are on the border of these new territories, so it is difficult to be certain to which prison would belong to which state if the divide were to occur.

Based on the distribution of prisons within the state of California, it appears that Six Californias would be a bad idea without comprehensive city planning prior to the division. Since the state has been funded by each county to establish correctional facilities for the whole state, areas with large populations currently house more of these detention centers than areas with smaller populations. A state division would result in inadequate law enforcement resources for the northernmost and western territories. Upon a state division, it is unlikely that many of these new states would have the resources necessary to build needed infrastructure. Therefore, it would be in the best interest of state residents to not vote for the passage of Six Californias when it comes to the ballot.

References

California Department of Corrections & Rehabilitation. (2014). Prison Facilities. Retrieved from http://www.cdcr.ca.gov/Facilities_Locator/

Legislative Analyst’s Office. (2005). How much do California countiesspend on local corrections? Retrieved from http://www.lao.ca.gov/PolicyAreas/CJ/2_cj_county_spending

Six Californias. (n.d.). Get Involved – Six CaliforniasCreate Your State. Retrieved from http://www.sixcalifornias.com/create