BEDS PUT PRISONS ON TRACK TO GROWTH

That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet. --
William Shakespeare.

It depends on what the meaning of "is" is. -- Bill Clinton.

You may remember the specifics of the following story better than I do,
especially if you enjoy railroad history.

It was quite a few years back and Amtrak was a busier operation than
nowadays, offering many more runs between many more points.

As I recall it, there were a great many complaints about too many late
trains. People grumbled until, by gosh, someone in a position of power took
heed, issued a directive, and the problem was ... Well, the trains were ...

Actually, all that happened was the definition of "late" was changed. The
official simply decreed that a train did not have to arrive on or before
its scheduled time to be considered on time. Its arrival actually could
come after the scheduled time by quite a few minutes without the train
being counted late.

It would be officially late only if it were a lot late.

New prisons aren't more prisons

People who came to the station to meet the passengers had to wait just as
long as before for the trains, but officials were able to toss out most of
the complaints under the new definition.

I tried to bolster my memory on that story, but couldn't find mention of it
after checking several sources. It will bother me until I do. I'll wake up
middle of the night wondering if it really happened or was just some sort
of urban legend.

And it is Glen Castlebury's fault. He's the one who reminded me of that
tale, although I'm certain it was unintentional. He is the Texas Department
of Criminal Justice official spokesman who called the other day to explain
why I was wrong when I wrote: "Texas prison officials are expected soon to
ask our elected crew at the Capitol to vote them a big potful of money to
add more beds."

Castlebury told me that he didn't know anyone who wants more prisons, and
he e-mailed me a statement in which he declared: " ... any suggestion of
new capacity beds is off the table."

But only hours later, Gov. Rick Perry's budget was released, calling for
$95.1 million in prison construction. The plan is for two new 400-bed
geriatric units and two new 540-bed units to house inmates considered too
dangerous to keep locked up with the general prison population.

So then the challenge became trying to figure out who might have asked his
governorship to budget those new prisons, if it wasn't the TDCJ, which will
be running them.

The way the prison-industrial complex has been growing in our state, I
wondered whether the request came from the contractors who build the
facilities. Or maybe the people who sell prison supplies and services. Or
perhaps various members of chambers of commerce who want prison payrolls
for their towns.

Well, Castlebury sent me another e-mail that explains that those new
prisons aren't really considered growth, the way prison officials define
growth. Castlebury said that when talking about new beds, the key word is
"capacity."

He said if you add new "capacity" beds it means you are preparing to bring
in more people, and that isn't what Gov. Perry did. Castlebury said the new
prisons Perry budgeted will contain "special-purpose" beds.

Hard beds, dangerous inmates

The new geriatric units are needed to more efficiently house the system's
ever-aging population, Castlebury said. And those other two prisons are for
"hard" beds that will help the system cope more efficiently with a growing
number of dangerous, or "hard," inmates.

Of course, adding beds for special needs results in a gain in capacity. So
in the end, we wind up with more space and continued growth in the
prison-industrial complex.

The trains are just as late as before. But the definitions make it harder
to figure out who is to blame.