How Gray Davis campaigned to reduce crime through high imprisonment despite substantial evidence there is no correlation between high imprisonment and crime reduction

Thesis (M.A., Government)--California State University, Sacramento, 2005.While receiving his largest campaign contributions from the California Correctional Peace Officers Association, and comparable large contributions from private corporations that employ prison labor in California, Gray Davis twice successfully campaigned for governor on a strong imprisonment policy platform. An unprecedented number of persons were incarcerated in California during Davis's tenure as governor, while critics of Davis's administration argued that the large number of persons being incarcerated -reflected a payback by the Davis administration for the large contributions he received from the prison guard union, and private campaign donors who benefited from using prison labor.\ud The California Department of Corrections (CDC), Prison Industrial Authority of California (PIA), California Joint Venture Program with the CDC, California Correctional Peace Officer's Association (CCPOA), California Department of General Services, California State Auditor's Office, California Secretary of State Office, Federal Bureau of Investigation, U.S Census Bureau, U.S. Department of Justice, and numerous journalists who wrote on the subject, academics who researched the topic, and the research of anti-prison activists and organizations who watch and analyze imprisonment trends.\ud Although Davis campaigned on the platform that his imprisonment policies would reduce California's crime rate, there is substantial evidence to demonstrate that high imprisonment has little correlation to crime reduction. Dayis's pro-imprisonment policies did directly benefit the CCPOA and did also benefit private corporations that invest in inmate labor as a potential profit making labor source.Governmen