New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo's proposal to downsize New York's infamous juvenile justice facilities ran into some resistance from upstate Republicans and corrections unions worried that fewer facilities would mean fewer jobs. Cuomo just announced that he intends to close a number of adult facilities as well, eliminating about 3,000 prison beds as part of a pretty broad set of budget cuts, which The New York Times states is the largest reduction in a decade.
While obviously some people are going to lose their jobs because of this, it's bad policy to premise people's livelihoods on incarcerating as many people as possible. There's a better way to spend taxpayer dollars, especially when it's clear the facilities themselves are no longer needed.
It should be noted, though, that Cuomo is largely continuing a positive trend in criminal-justice policy reform in the state. His rather unpopular predecessor, David Paterson, overturned the Rockefeller Drug laws and also downsized the state's prison system.
