SACRAMENTO, Calif. – The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) today announced plans to shutter the Chuckawalla Valley State Prison in Blythe, Calif., in March 2025. Additionally, plans are in place to deactivate a handful of facilities in six other prisons around the state.
California will spend more than $14 billion on its prison system during the current fiscal year, despite the fact the state prison population has steadily declined in recent years.
The following can be attributed to Tinisch Hollins, executive director of Californians for Safety and Justice:
“Today’s announcement by CDCR is further evidence that California is committed to pursuing effective strategies for achieving true safety in our communities. Californians from all walks of life know well by now what works and what doesn’t to protect our neighborhoods from harm. Research backs up decades of lived experience that over-reliance on incarceration only compounds the conditions that create violence and does nothing to actually prevent crime in the first place. We spend more than $14 billion every year on our prisons. It is far past time we balance our investments and prioritize investing in the creation of a treatment and crime prevention infrastructure that millions of Californians have needed for generations.”