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May 06, 2013
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1. RE:Is there an answer to prison overcrowding?
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Raphael Sperry, AIA
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May 04, 2013
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2. Is there an answer to prison overcrowding?
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Erin Costino
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April 10, 2013
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3. April 11 Deadline: AAJ 2013 Conference Proposal...
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Ann Harris
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March 27, 2013
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4. Stacked Up article from Correctional News
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Kathleen Simpson
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March 14, 2013
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5. Prison Design Competition
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Erin Costino
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February 28, 2013
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6. Article: "The Prison Problem"
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Erin Costino
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February 11, 2013
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7. Free Webinar: Sustainable Jails this Thursday...
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Kathleen Simpson
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February 07, 2013
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8. Stephen Carter's Article in Correctional News
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Erin Costino
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January 30, 2013
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9. Court Architecture Executive Research Tour
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Erin Costino
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January 28, 2013
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10. In the News!
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Erin Costino
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I think the California experience is an important lesson about prison overcrowding and what architects can do. My take on it is that California tried to built its way out of prison overcrowding for the past few decades with over two dozen major state prisons, each holding around 2,000 people. And despite that, overcrowding became so bad that the US Supreme Court decided it was unconstitutional. So as many observers put it, you can't build your way out of this problem. The real problem California has, which I assume we all know, is with its sentencing laws and some of its public officials. We have one of the worst three-strikes laws in the country, long determinate sentences, and a pointless war on marijuana. We have a great disparity among DAs -- some show admirable fairness, others overcharge every person possible in order to get easy convictions and pad their statistics. Whether you end up in prison for years or not depends sometimes on whether your offense was a mile on one side or the other of a county line. Hardly the mark of an equitable justice system. We also have a governor who considers himself as above the US Supreme Court when it comes to determining if conditions meet constitutional standards, and who demagogues the issue of early prisoner releases with the idea that every person in prison is basically a violent assault waiting to happen. In contrast, the CA Senate President noted that "if we spend more money in building more prisons or jail beds, that's less money to invest in mental health, substance abuse, treatment and vocational training for parolees and probationers... The key is to reduce recidivism, not to keep building more capacity." ( http://www.sacbee.com/2013/05/04/5394221/prisons-aksjldkajsdaksjldaskjd.html) As an architect, I ask myself, would I take on a client facing potential contempt of court charges for his willful mishandling of the prison system, and who won't even seek the agreement of a very reasonable state legislature for population reduction measures? And, given that we have more than enough prison space in California already, what alternative projects would help to reduce crime in the communities where they are occurring? Thanks for opening this discussion, Erin. ------------------------------------------- Raphael Sperry AIA San Francisco CA -------------------------------------------
Show Original Message
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Original Message:
Sent: 05-04-2013 23:17
From: Erin Costino
Subject: Is there an answer to prison overcrowding?
California Governor Jerry Brown is proposing a plan to alleviate prison overcrowding that even he opposes. Read it about it at the link below:
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-ff-brown-prisons-20130504,0,6230589.story?page=1
Is there an answer to overcrowding? Should architects be involved in this debate? If so, how?
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Erin Costino, M.A.
Ph.D. Student
University of California, Irvine
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California Governor Jerry Brown is proposing a plan to alleviate prison overcrowding that even he opposes. Read it about it at the link below: http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-ff-brown-prisons-20130504,0,6230589.story?page=1 Is there an answer to overcrowding? Should architects be involved in this debate? If so, how? ------------------------------------------- Erin Costino, M.A. Ph.D. Student University of California, Irvine -------------------------------------------
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Proposals for content are due April 11, 2013 at 12pm ET The goal of the annual AIA AAJ National Conference for 2013 is to provide a forum for open, vibrant, and provocative discussion of the "Best Practices" in project delivery across the total spectrum of owners, design professionals, contractors, vendors, operators, and financiers, active within the criminal justice building community. The downloadable documents below are identical to the online forms and will help you build your submission. Please review them first. To submit, all session organizers, complete the online submission form. And all main and supplemental speakers complete the separate online speaker agreement. Questions can be directed to: aaj@aia.org. ------------------------------------------- Ann Harris The American Institute of Architects Washington DC -------------------------------------------
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A cross over of the 2012 and 2013 AAJ conferences, Correctional News covers the Toronto South Detention Center as a P3 project: http://viewer.zmags.com/publication/3ed790ed#/3ed790ed/37 Submit a project delivery proposal for the 2013 fall conference by April 11th. Check out the new 7 minute Pecha Kucha option. ------------------------------------------- Kathleen Simpson Director, Knowledge Communities The American Institute of Architects Washington DC -------------------------------------------
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AC-CA, an international architectural competition organizing group based in London, recently hosted a competition in which participants were tasked with designing an ocean platform prison. See the winners here: http://www.ac-ca.org/en/pacific06winners ------------------------------------------- Erin Costino University of California, Irvine San Diego CA -------------------------------------------
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Below is a link to an article that addresses "the prison problem" as it relates to mass incarceration and recidivism: http://harvardmagazine.com/2013/03/the-prison-problem Ideas concerning the causes of these problems are numerous and include sociological, psychological, and moral arguments (among many others). This article explores primarily sociological points of view, and is worth reading and considering. Please share your thoughts. ------------------------------------------- Erin Costino Ph.D. Student University of California, Irvine -------------------------------------------
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Sustainable Jails: Ripe Opportunities
for Saving County Resources Please Join NACo for a Webinar
Thursday, February 14, 2013
2:00 - 3:15 p.m. EST County correctional facilities-large and often outdated county facilities-are ripe opportunities for counties to better manage county resources. Savvy county officials are investing in energy upgrades and reusable, durable green products at county facilities, and the payback is significant. Join the webinar to hear from industry and county leaders at the forefront of sustainable correctional facilities. Register: https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/974635674 For more information, please contact Cindy Wasser at cwasser@naco.org or 202.942.4274. *Please note this webinar is produced by National Association of Counties for its members. AIA Continuing Education will NOT be offered.
View all NACo webinar recordings: http://www.naco.org/meetings/webinars/Pages/WebinarRecordings.aspx ------------------------------------------- Kathleen Simpson Director, Knowledge Communities The American Institute of Architects Washington DC -------------------------------------------
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Stephen Carter has an article in the current issue of Correctional News. Please follow this link to access the article:
http://www.correctionalnews.com/articles/2013/02/6/mister-rogers-neighborhood
The article addresses the recent decrease in the number of incarcerated individuals in the United States as a means to a more "balanced approach to justice." This approach includes an expansion of the idea of sustainability that the AAJ Sustainability Committee is working toward demonstrating: that beyond LEED certification, the practice of restorative justice is the paramount to the idea of sustainability. The location of many correctional facilities outside of towns and in isolated areas conveys a message of disconnect between the inhabitants of these facilities and the surrounding community. Practicing Restorative Justice counters this trend by distributing responsibility of the offender's successful transition to the community to both the offender and the "neighborhood."
I think the points brought up in this article are important for the broader discussion of the relationship between people and their environments, including what is and isn't part of a community's surroundings. Access to inmates through the concept of the "front door" discussed in the article is significant, as pushing them to the outskirts of a society removes them both physically and consequentially, mentally from the community. In other words, out of sight, out of mind. For an offender's successful reentry into the community, this topic should be addressed.
What are your thoughts on this article? ------------------------------------------- Erin Costino University of California, Irvine erincostino@gmail.com -------------------------------------------
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The Academy of Architecture for Justice has recently been featured in two publications! Both the Justice Facilities Review and the Toronto Conference have been highlighted in magazines this season. Here are the links: "A Focus on the Academy of Architecture for Justice Conference" in Architecture Canada: http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/naylor/RAIB0212/#/8 "2012 AIA Justice Design Awards: Justice architecture honored by Washington, DC-based American Institute of Architects in the annual Justice Facilities Review" in Courts Today: http://viewer.zmags.com/publication/c9afe8f9#/c9afe8f9/12 What a great start to the year! ------------------------------------------- Erin Costino Ph.D. Student University of California, Irvine erincostino@gmail.com -------------------------------------------
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