Word: states
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...secret that Michigan is enduring the most extreme effects of the nation's economic crisis: its unemployment rate stands at 15.3%, and the state is functioning on a temporary budget as legislators rush to close a $2.8 billion deficit. In recent years, the financial situation here has been so dire that Michigan has closed several detention facilities, reducing its prison population by thousands. Now, however, the state appears to be viewing prisoners in a different economic light - as a potential revenue generator...
...particular, Michigan is moving to import out-of-state prisoners and even alleged terrorists who are detained by the Federal Government at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba. The effort could make Michigan an unlikely player in the increasingly lucrative business of transporting prisoners across borders. Already, several states grappling with overcrowded prisons - including California, Pennsylvania and Vermont - spend millions each year sending inmates to private and public prisons in Arizona, Oklahoma, Mississippi, Tennessee and elsewhere. (See TIME's photo-essay "The Remains of Detroit...
...Michigan shrinks its own inmate population: since 2006, it has dropped from 51,700 to about 46,000. Officials here attribute the decline to several factors, including an overall drop in crime, the placement of more people on parole and a lower recidivism rate. But in June, as the state's budget crisis deepened, Michigan announced that it would close eight prison facilities by the end of the year, including Standish, which could save some $30 million annually. Standish is expected to be shut down by the end of October, and many of the 600 inmates are already being dispersed...
...recent interview with TIME, Michigan's governor, Jennifer Granholm, acknowledged that finances have been a key impetus for reducing the state's prison population. It costs some $30,000 a year to house a single prisoner. "We could be putting that money toward higher education," Granholm told TIME...
...book, Read My Pins: Stories from a Diplomat's Jewel Box, former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright talks about how jewelry became her signature diplomatic tool. From turtles to doves to hot-air balloons, she used her vast collection of costume brooches to send specific messages to everyone from Saddam Hussein to Nelson Mandela. (See TIME's 10 Questions with Madeleine Albright...