A BATTLE OVER PRISONS

Gov. Eliot Spitzer of New York took on one of the state's most
powerful special-interest groups when he proposed a commission to
determine which of the state's expensive and underused prisons should
be closed. He is in for a tough battle, but it is well worth fighting.

Even a modest closings program like the one proposed by Gov. George
Pataki could have saved the state nearly $75 million in the first
three years, freeing up money for schools, health care and mass
transit. But Mr. Pataki was blocked by the powerful correction
officers' union and by state lawmakers who reap campaign contributions
from the union and early do its bidding.

While New York's prison population has declined sharply since the late
1990's, too many legislators in upstate New York see the prisons as a
state-financed jobs program. Some lawmakers are also worried about
protecting their own jobs. Some hold office only because their
lightly populated districts were deliberately drawn to include prisons
that inflate the head count -- with nonvoting residents.

Mr. Spitzer will have to press the Legislature to amend the 2005
correction workers protection bill. THe law makes it difficult -- and
expensive -- for the state to close a prison whether or not it is
still needed. It requires the state to undertake a complex series of
studies and consultation and to essentially take financial
responsibility for any losses communities may suffer -- either from
a staff cutback or a prison closing.

The leader of the state correction officers' union, Lawrence Flanagan
Jr., is so sure of his political power that he sounded like some kind
of potentate last week, when he told The Times's Nicholas Confessore
that "We're not open to any closures at this point." Less crime and
fewer inmates should equal a smaller corrections budget -- and a
larger investment in other vital state services. Mr. Spitzer should
press ahead with a plan to close unneeded prisons and the State
Legislature should back him, rather than fight him.