PROPOSED LEDE: ACCORDING TO THE FRESNO BEE, FAMILY MEMBERS WONT GET TO VISIT INMATES THIS WEEKEND AT CALIFORNIAS 33 STATE PRISONS DUE TO A BUDGET-SLASHING MEASURE BY THE STATE DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS AND REHABILITATION. CANCELING WEEKEND VISITS WILL SAVE $400,000 IN OVERTIME PAY TO STAFF THE VISITING AREAS ON WEEKENDS. AROUND THE NATION, SEVERE BUDGET SHORTFALLS HAVE BEEN LEADING SOME STATES TO CONSIDER LIGHTENING PRISON SENTENCES AND EVEN CLOSING PRISON FACILITIES. UNTIL LAST YEARS FINANCIAL CRISIS, PRISON BUILDING AND SPENDING WAS SEEN AS A NECESSARY COMPONENT OF PUBLIC SPENDING OFTEN AS SCHOOLS AND OTHER SOCIAL PROGRAMS WERE BEING SLASHED BUT THE CRISIS MAY BE REVERSING THIS TREND. THIS PAST THURSDAY, UNIVERSITY OF HAWAII PROFESSOR ROBERT PERKINSON CAME TO REVOLUTION BOOKS IN MANHATTAN TO DISCUSS HIS BOOK: "TEXAS TOUGH", AND TRACE THE ORIGINS OF THE PRISON SYSTEM IN THE U.S., WHICH INCARCERATES 1% OF ITS RESIDENTS, BY FAR THE LARGEST OF ANY DEMOCRATIC NATION IN HISTORY. WBAI FRED NGUYEN WAS THERE AND HE FILES THIS REPORT:
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