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A local Rotary Club has completed constructing a greenhouse at the prison in Juneau.
Members of the Rotary Club of Juneau, also referred to as the downtown club, put finishing touches on the structure Saturday at Lemon Creek Correctional Center.
The club began building the greenhouse in July to replace a previous greenhouse at the prison that was knocked down and destroyed by a windstorm some years ago.
The new greenhouse is located on the east side of the prison in a yard, enclosed by barbed wire near the women’s housing.
The $13,000 project was funded by the Rotary Club and was built by Rotary Club members and volunteers. It was their annual community service project for 2012.
Rotarians said they thought providing inmates the opportunity to garden would prove to be therapeutic for them.
Fastening florescent light fixtures inside the 10-foot tall rounded building, which is 15 feet wide and 40 feet long, was the final phase in construction.
Now that it is built, the prison will be in charge of filling it with plants, finding uses for it and operating it.
LCCC Warden G. Scott Wellard said in a previous interview that he envisions the greenhouse being an educational opportunity run by the prison’s Education Department so inmates can learn about horticulture, master gardening and landscaping.
LCCC is a state-operated adult correctional institution that can house up to about 220 inmates. Convicted felons serving their sentences make up about 80 percent of the prison’s population.
• Contact reporter Emily Russo Miller at 523-2263 or at emily.miller@juneauempire.com.
Comments (25)
Add commentCool project
Maybe add some fresh food to the prison menu as well.
I'm guessing they have some inmates with 'special expertise' in this area. Might as well get a workforce trained up for when Alaska passes the same law that Washington and Colorado just passed. Inmates can step right into productive careers.
Awesome....
Why make prison an unpleasant experience. We wouldn't want the prisoners to be unhappy or even miserable. After all all they did was break the law right? Shoot they are just poor misunderstood souls that sell drugs, kill people, abuse kids, etc. Heck I bet most are just plain innocent great people.
Lets give them guns and take them hunting for fresh meat too.
@ak mom
I see your point, and cannot disagree with inmates being punished for their crimes. However, if they are made to sit in an empty cage for years upon years, their minds will break down, and they will likely be released more violent; or at least less likely to adapt back into society.
Punishment is necessary, but if we make them worse individuals coming out than going in, we have taken two steps backward. If they behave and are allowed to do something normal like gardening, then it teaches them a new skill, allows them to feel "free" for a moment, and encourages them to behave and better themselves. I am sure that they are still feeling punished for the most part for the duration of their stay.
I would hope the killers and child abusers would not be the ones that are using these perks, and it is more likely the prisoners that committed lesser crimes and can behave themselves.
Of course, I am no expert in the field of Psychology, and I could be wrong about all of this. Just offering another way to look at it; and whatever they do in there, I hope it helps the community in the long run.
@Paul
I may be wrong but I recall the re-offender rates are lower in the states that have the hardest prisons.. chain gangs, etc.
We have people that offend just to get a warm place for the winter, and this was in our local paper and in national news. So now they get a warm, health care, and a garden.
What motivation or fear do they have to not want back in?
$13,000 is a lot of money and could have done a lot for the community that hasn't infringed on anyone else's rights. Even whats considered a relatively minor offense like a 1st time DUI could have resulted in the death of someone else.
I understand making them angry and all before they come out. But right now we make them strong, smarter (not in a good way, and unafraid of prison that isn't any better.
Ak_Mom, While I can see your
Ak_Mom,
While I can see your point, these people are in the custody of the Department of Corrections. They are housed in a correctional facility. Would you have them corrected by being whipped on a daily basis while chained to a wall in a cold wet cellar?
@JE
No but I don't believe it should be so laid back either. -- I realize laid back is a poor description. But I think you know what I mean.
Ak_Mom
Maybe you should join the Rotary Club so you can tell them how misguided they are with the use of their VOLUNTEER time and money.
And as far as your claim that "the re-offender rates are lower in the states that have the hardest prisons.. chain gangs, etc.", please provide some documentation to back that claim up.
@AK Mom
I think if you stayed 24 hours in a jail, you would see that these inmates are not in some sort of resort. They are already getting smarter in ways we don't want by being surrounded by nothing but other criminals; and one will teach the other how to commit a crime, different than the one they are in there for; they get out and go back in for something worse. I like that they are gardening, it seems like a better lesson to learn than how to sell heroin for profit, pick a lock, or make a bomb.
I question that the correlation between harsh treatment and rehabilitation is causation. That seems backwards. Also, "people getting arrested for a place to stay"...maybe...but that has got to be rare.
A one time amount of $13,000 would not do much for the community as a whole, but I understand where you are coming from on that. Can't argue.
DUI is not a relatively light offense to me, I think they should all get multiple years. I am bias though, a drunk driver left me with a fake hip, and eternal back pain, so even as I write I think about that day. All offenses are detrimental to our community; shoplifters raise the cost of doing business, bar brawlers disturb the peace, etc. They all cost us.
This is all why I am a strong advocate of educating our community's children to the best of our ability. Kids that have options, may not choose to go down the path that leads to LLCC. I am pretty sure this greenhouse will not have a negative effect, but that is only my opinion; and you are entitled to your own, of course.
Alaska Grown!!!
Great to see the business community supports our local growers! Bong hits for Jesus!!
@Lat & @ Paul
Latitude, 1st I did open that with I may be wrong....
But here is how I came to my conclusion, AZ has the lowest recidivism rate and they also have one of the toughest prisons in Maricopa County.
Now I also know anyone can do enough research to support their claim if they want.
Paul, I agree DUI isn't a a light offense but when you look at the punishment for it then it is when it is a 1st offense.
Also getting arrested for a warm bed and health care, there was a guy in our local paper and it is in the national news. However that's more about our healthcare system than our prisons, so i agree this wasn't the best example against the greenhouse. Even one person holding up a bank for a buck just to get arrested for assistance is too much.
ak_mom
That's a great trick! Mind if I use it? Make up some kind of BS claim, then say "but I may be wrong".
You're right that AZ has one of the lowest recidivism rates. And Alaska has one of the highest. It's because of the heat. See, AZ is hot and AK is cold, so that explains it. Nothing to do with harsh prisons. But I may be wrong.
@Lat
OK I am done having a discussion with a child.
You hand hold the prisoners an kiss their butts cause that's totally getting us somewhere in this town!
Good night
My problem...
Kudos to Rotary for rebuilding the green house. I say, if you treat people like animals, you get animals. Treat them like human beings, you get human beings.
My problem is with the "structure" right next to the green house. That ugly, grey tent actually houses many of the women at Lemon Creek. It looks like a Quonset hut with tarps over it. The women in it, which is actually an annex of "J Dorm", aka "Juliet", can actually have their conversations heard by people in the parking lot, and have to go outdoors to use a port-a-potty, yes even in the dead of winter, to relieve themselves. If anyone thinks the inmates at LCCC are "living in luxury", just go look at that tent.
But hey, at least they have a cute lawn ornament of a lady bug riding a bicycle next to that tent! I guess everything is fine...
My problem...
(self deleting. Comment posted twice)
locked up homegrown
It would be really progressive to have the prisoners grow medical marijuana sell it at a non existent city owned dispensary and rake in the profits that would go directly to all the numerous well deserving charities in the community.
:)
"Hey Slim! How's them petunias?"
"There's one sprouted yesterday Slammer! I ain't been happier!"
"My sunflowers ain't done nothin' yet Slim!"
"It's gonna be alright Slammer, I'll trade you here one petunia."
What a happy place the prison is about to become. :)
Better Living Through Chemistry!
Let's set up a chem lab so the perps have something to do when its cold outside.
Paul Nolan, are you serious with your statement...
"A one time amount of $13,000 would not do much for the community as a whole, but I understand where you are coming from on that."
I'll bet the Helping Hands, Food Bank, Gastineau Humane Society, Salvation Army, St. Vincent's and all other agencies that rely on donations would disagree with you!
Such negativism!
Thank you, Rotarians for all the work you put into this project!
I beleive it s called good
I beleive it s called good behavior appreciation. You F up you dont get to garden...
Intent of Prisions
If the intent of prison is purely to punish then by all means small wooden boxes for everyone, but if the intent is to provide punishment (i.e. removal of freedom as well as protection of society) coupled with a good sound attempt at rehabilitation (most individuals will see the light of day again) then tools such as this garden are needed. While I agree that the individuals in for such crimes as rape and murder MAY be better suited to a less joyous rehabilitation, I think providing a constructive outlet for their energies can only serve to better them as humans.
If you disagree with bettering those individuals that will see the light of day again, please donate your bullets to the prison as that would be the only recourse. Immediate death for all criminals, that’s not really a solution, now is it?
never broke the law
I never broke the law or never got a ticket. I grew up knowing right from wrong. I would never brake the law or go to jail.
@AKMom & Lat & michael2000 & ForReal
@AKMom - I agree that DUIs get off way too easy around here. About Maricopa County, that Sheriff has been accused of abusive behaviors, so there are definitely 2 sides to that story. Phoenix is such a large area to patrol, and factors like that may be the reason that the repeat offenses are low; just luck of the draw. Or maybe you are right.
@Lat - Why is it so wrong for AKMom to state something, and admit that she is not an expert on the matter ("I may be wrong...)? We are all just stating our opinions and discussing (or at times arguing). Sometimes we know more about a topic and we are more confident in our answers, other times we feel strongly, yet know we may not have all of the facts; but I do not find fault in that. I wish you would reconsider, and not belittle her opinion by saying she is using BS arguments. I too disagree with her stance on discipline getting the best results, but it does not make me think lesser of her. Where's your holiday spirit? You intrigue me Sir, I have yet to figure you out; but I still enjoy the way you stir things up.
@michael2000 - I agree: treat prisoners like animals, and animals you will have.
@ForReal - I did answer your post in another article, but since you are so persistent to get an answer I will give a short reply here as well (and I realize that this was likely the first post). I only meant that $13,000 spread across a community of 30,000 is spread pretty thin. I think I may have been more detailed in the other post; but I am not trying to argue with anyone about it; and the Rotary does what they want.
Arizona recidivism rate?
Arizona recidivism rate?
Arizona has 5 (out of 15) prisons that are for profit enterprises. Other states and cities actually ship their prisoners to AZ for incarceration. When the prisoner’s sentence is done, they return to the state/city where they were convicted.
So yeah. AZ has a low recidivism rate because the prisoners they release go back home and not to AZ.
Here is a study from the bipartisan Commission on Safety and Abuse in America's Prisons... http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0933722.html and
http://law.wustl.edu/Journal/22/p385CommissionReport.pdf
"Within three years of their release, 67% of former prisoners are rearrested and 52% are re-incarcerated, a recidivism rate that calls into question the effectiveness of America's corrections system, which costs taxpayers $60 billion a year."
"Every day judges send thousands of men and women to jail or
prison, but the public knows very little about the conditions of
confinement and whether they are punishing in ways that no judge or jury ever intended; marked by the experience of rape, gang violence, abuse by officers, infectious disease, and never-ending solitary confinement."
@El B
I knew there was something about AZ prisons, but it had been a while since I read anything about them. I knew the Sheriff of Maricopa has recently been in the new again for being overly aggressive. Thank you for providing this information.