Effort to stop prison building rejected again > Projects going ahead

AUGUSTA — You have to give Rep. Jim Skoglund credit: He’s no quitter.

After a committee voted unanimously April 30 against his bill designed to derail the $63 million prison proposed for South Warren, the St. George Democrat got the bill to the floor Thursday morning in the form of a resolution. The House listened attentively to the retired teacher, then rejected his well-reasoned argument 119-26. He would have needed a two-thirds majority to revive the measure.

The five-term veteran told the House that the bill was “the most important bill I have ever done. This is the largest, most expensive project the state has ever done.”

The $170 million comprehensive project to overhaul the state prison system, which includes the Warren prison, was passed in the last session with no floor debate or vote. The “little understood” project is designed to be financed in annual savings of $7 million generated by replacing the current dilapidated prison buildings that produce the highest per-prisoner cost in the country, said Skoglund.

“That plan looks good on paper, but not in practice,” he told the House members. The state should be looking at alternative programs to keep people out of prison instead of getting caught up in the national craze of building new prisons, he said. “I don’t want the lasting monument for this century to be a 1,000 bed prison surrounded by razor wire,” he said.

If he found no support in committee, Skoglund at least heard a few friendly voices in the House on Thursday.

Rep. Royce W. Perkins, R-Penobscot, called Skoglund a “visionary” and praised his “voice crying in the wilderness.”

Rep. Judith A. Powers, D-Rockport, said building larger and larger prisons was like making a self-fulfilling prophecy — “If you build it, they will come.” Powers questioned what kind of society legislators want and expressed skepticism that the Department of Corrections could save $7 million a year on operating costs.

The $63 million earmarked for bricks and mortar in Warren could be better spent on programs for substance and sex abusers, according to Rep. Christina L. Baker, D-Bangor.

But members of the Criminal Justice Committee fought on the House floor for the prison plan they have been working on for five years.

Committee Chairman Edward J. Povich, D-Ellsworth, said the comprehensive prison overhaul will allow badly needed space for rehabilitation programs and has been endorsed by the Civil Liberties Union, Council of Churches and the state organization of police chiefs. The archaic state prison in Thomaston now eats up funds that could be used for the programs, Povich said.

The state prison system today has 173 more inmates than it has beds, said Rep. Michael J. McAlevey, R-Waterboro. The extra prisoners are sleeping on cots or mattresses on the floor, he said. The new prison will create a cleaner, safer, more humane environment for inmates as well as prison staff, he said.

After working for 22 years in corrections, Rep. Christopher T. Muse, D- South Portland, supported the prison plan which has been “worked, then reworked” in numerous public hearings.