FREEDOM AT ISSUE
Prisoners Of Circumstance

Joanne Coontz,mayor of Orange, seems to be dead set against building a
new jail east of the city she is supposed to govern. The property that
is being eyed for the jail is reportedly no more than two miles from a
planned development of over 11,000 homes. Mayor Coontz is working to
prevent the county from building yet another facility like the one
that's already part of the city of Orange, the Theo Lacy Facility.

I do not envy Mayor Coontz or all those like her who find themselves
in her fix. But neither do I think her approach is the right one, from
a philosophical standpoint.

Clearly, when prisons are needed, they must be put some place. Of
course, in our time the capacity of prisons is being strained not
because of rising violent crimes - the FBI has been reporting lately
that violent crimes in the United States have been on the decline,
despite the numerous high profile criminal incidents around the country.

The violent crime rate is down but the prisons are filling up,
nevertheless.

Some of this may be due to the fact that many of the violent criminals
but have committed mainly victimless crimes, usually ones generated by
drug prohibition and the behavior of those trading in banned
substances, such as members of the underground economy who lack any
peaceful legal remedies for trade infractions and then resort to
violence to keep some measure of order.

The demoralizing and decivilizing impact of drug prohibition is
incalculably powerful.

So apart from reducing the prison population by wiping out the
ridiculous and unjust drug prohibitions that fill the prisons, what
could a good mayor do about prisons that are really needed?

Remember that it cannot be that prisons should be nowhere. (It is now
too late to follow the advice of H.L. Mencken to bring back
banishment, unless criminals could be sent off somewhere to outer space.)

The answer is that here is one of the few legitimate jobs of the
government and as with all such decisions, they must ultimately be
left to democratic choice.

So when a state prison is to be located somewhere, officials of the
state - member of the assembly and senate and their appointees - will
need to determine it.

When a county or municipal jail or prison must be placed somewhere in
the county or city, the decisions would have to be made by those who
represent those jurisdictions.

This is the only way to go with matters properly within the domain of
government, at least if democracy itself has any standing.

Mayor Coontz's efforts to resist county officials concerning the
location of a new jail is, therefore, one of those gestures that may
have some sentimental value but should really not be decisive.

Of course, if the jail envisioned isn't safe or otherwise poses a
determinable danger to members of the community, there is recourse in
the law. But this by no means has to be the case.

Indeed, arguably vicinities with jails or prisons could be safer than
those lacking them, simply because of all the police attention they
receive. Few folks are going to embark upon a crime spree near such
facilities.

So both residential and business communities could well be the
beneficiaries of having a jail in the neighborhood, provided it is a
properly built and supervised facility.

The "not in my back yard" attitude Mayor Coontz is voicing is
unbecoming of a public official who should realize that bona fide
public facilities such as jails have to be place somewhere.

To claim that they do not belong near Orange once the county
decision-making properly led to that choice is to oppose the properly
limited but valid role democracy has in a free society, namely, to
decide on bona fide public issues.

(We can leave the issue of whether jails and prisons need to be public
facilities to another time.)
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Editor Note:In Freedom At Issue,Mr Machan applies libertarian principles to
local governance questions of the day.If you have a question for Mr.
Machan,please contact us by fax,phone or e-mail.Cathy Taylor,editorial and
commentary director,Phone # 1-714-796-7946.