After months and months and months (okay, years) of battling over how to reduce the disastrous overcrowding in California’s prisons—a problem that must get solved or U.S. District Judge Thelton Henderson, and the rest of his three-judge panel, will find a way solve it for the state, and not necessarily in a manner that everyone likes—-on Tuesday, a court-appointed referee unveiled a proposed settlement that would, according to the San Francisco Chron, would “reduce the inmate population by 17 percent in four years by keeping minor offenders and some parole violators out of state custody.”
The proposal includes:
— Nonprison alternatives for low-level felons who would otherwise serve no more than a year in prison. They could be sent to county jails or local rehabilitation and treatment programs.
— An end to the routine practice of returning thousands of parolees to prison each year to serve a few months for violating terms of their parole. Parole violators who are judged to be low-risk under a new state assessment system would remain free under tighter supervision and other conditions.— Changes in sentencing credits that would allow prisoners to shorten their terms by completing educational and job training programs.
— An increase in the maximum population allowed at each prison when new beds are added as planned in the next few years.
— If year-to-year population goals are not met and other measures fail, a requirement that the state release specified numbers of prisoners who have nearly completed their terms.
These are smart, reasonable suggestions. The one fly in the ointment is bouncing low-level offenders back to county jails, since right now the jails have their own awful overcrowding problems.
Yet the part about dialing back the practice of locking people up for minor technical violations of their parole is a stellar and important idea. That alone could make a big difference in prison numbers—and in the lives of former inmates trying to make it in the honest world, yet who occasionally slip in non-criminal ways (dirty drug tests, failure to report, that sort of thing). They may need tighter supervision, or some reentry help, but they don’t deserve to be sent back to prison—nor can we afford to keep sending the same people through the revolving prison door—if they aren’t actually committing new crimes.
Since the republicans are against early release, they and the democrats would do well to take this new proposal very, very seriously.
(Photo by Michael Macer, San Francisco Chronicle)
Release them~~~~saving billions & most importantly,saving lives~~~~we do not need more riots,such as whats been happening in Soladad,this past weekend~13 inmates where injured~One inmate flown to a San Jose-area trauma center had serious stab wounds, said correctional Lt. Gary Gilman. The other 12 who were injured were taken to Salinas-area hospitals. All of the inmates were returned to prison after treatment.
The first riot started about 3 p.m. when several hundred inmates began fighting in Lassen Hall, a Level III (high-medium security) general population housing unit at Unit V, north of the facility.
Less than an hour later, another riot started at Fremont Dorm, a Level II general population housing unit. The riot involved about 150 inmates.
The last riot started at 7:46 p.m. in the dining hall and involved about 100 kitchen workers.
The prison opened in 1948 and houses 6,500 minimum- and medium-security inmates.
it is certainly an improvement, but it provides no immediate relief. There are tens of thousands of prisoners who could be safely released right now to save billions of dollars. People should remember that everyone making this plan in some way profits off the human bondage industry. The money runs the legislature and pays for the entire bureaucracy. The mentally ill will not be well enough to earn good time credits or absorb education, so the “PLAN” is discriminatory toward them and more evidence that the mentally ill should not be in prison at all. No matter how hard anyone tries, it is impossible to punish the sick into being well….they could be healed, and often mental illness can be prevented. Todd Spitzer is a former OC Prosecutor and one of the top three people responsible for this mess by reforms that he, George Runner and Jeff Denham, along with the other Republican politicians, blocked every step of the way. He plans to return to being a prosecutor when he terms out. What is he doing involved in this process when he clearly has created a large part of the crisis?
Why aren’t the terminally ill getting released after the bill was signed last year? Because the families are being told by the CDCr doctors that they will be fired if they recommend compassionate release. There are 4500 quadriplegics, paraplegics, brain dead, frail elderly who could be released under AB1539, the ones who have family members who want them should be released right now. The feds under SSI could be picking up a large part of their care. Who wants to pay for punishing sick people?
Do what we do in Georgia. Tell criminals never to return to the state and then send them to California. Oh, wait.
Yes~~~~~`these sick dying human beings,need to be released,under AB1539~~why is this not happening? Are our legislators that desensitized~~~or is it green greed, that stops them,or is it their egos~~they don’t want to appear soft on crime~~~~~~is that stance more important than saving lives ? They are destroying families~~these inmates crimes where not because they murdered someone~yet they are being murdered,by medical neglect,in these over crowded prisons,they have created~~~~~due to their gross mismanagement~~Republicans are hard core, stubborn and evil~~business as usuall~~~
WRDT: Republicans are hard core, stubborn and evil….
Is that all? You might add smart.
Here, this should explain why Democrats are so much better than Republicans: Uncle Jay Explains the News
Diane and WRLDT (cool cybername), I quite agree with you about the releases. I’ll look more deeply into AB 1539. Please keep coming back. You’re both clearly very informed on these issues that are ESSENTIAL to the health of our state and its residents.
“They are destroying families~~these inmates crimes where not because they murdered someone~yet they are being murdered,by medical neglect,in these over crowded prisons,they have created.”
Yep.
I don’t blame just the repubs for this, by the way. Gray Davis, whom I used to know very, and a lot of dems who ought to know better, are equally complicit for the sorry situation we find ourselves in., and the damage being done to so many inmates
Since Baca himself has estimated that upto 25% are illegal, what about working harder to ID and get them deported so we have more room for our own nationals, giving them more humane treatment? Keeping in mind that deportations must be coordinated with ICE/Homeland Security, and agreements with countries they’re deported to, to ensure they don’t just come right back in, as they often do. (I’d like to see some solid figures on illegals in SoCal gangs (estimated as high as 60% in gangs like 18th St. by lib Diane Feinstein’s study in 03) and prisons — a higher number than for Cal overall — since they’re surely not a “xenophobic” myth as you’d have us believe, but I surely don’t want to give the people supporting Jamiel’s Law and such false succor if their numbers are inflated. Telling us these numbers “can’t” be determined is ridiculous, it’s a matter of will. DA Cooley, whom you endorsed, is responsible for felonies and failure in this area is first and foremost his. Too bad Ipsen, the elected spokesperson for 1000 Asst. DA’s, didn’t have the money and visibility to carry his message strongly enough.) Studies show upto half the inmates have substance abuse problems (Hello, Tatum) or mental illness, and need treatment they’re not getting due to lack of resources and space.
It was great to read the coop between Bratton/local officials and the FBI in your other thread; ironically, it’s mags like NYC’s City Journal (and Judith Miller, rep and all) that have documented what an exemplary job Bratton – LAPD/FBI/City Council – Public Safety/ Fed Terrorism depts., have been doing in working cooperatively and using databases to ID potential terrorism suspects. (Which makes claims that they “can’t” cooperate more efficiently on ID’ing illegal felons althemore suspicious; from a public policy perspective I understand how Bratton/pols must be wary of the true xenophobes, racists and oddballs who attack to a cause like Jamiel’s Law, but the basic premise of deporting repeat illegal felons is hardly controversial. And if they don’t enforce it, it may lead to a broader anti-immigrant sentiment in general. Especially in reaction to sentiments like your previous post from the NYC OpEd wackos, who deliberately conflate illegal and legal immigration in some phony-pious plea for pity, which is a slap in the face to everyone who must come to this country legally, or face consequences. Like the Armenian kid who’s a valedictorian in NoCal, but his family’s petition for asylum is being denied and they may be deported — not that that’s the right decision, but just that it happens all the time, and what the leftwing wackos at the Times are asking, is wildly unfair. I used to help some Russian and Lithuanian would-be asylum-seekers who’d been abandoned by lawyers as hopeless and who couldn’t afford to pay new ones, pro bono, as advocate/ translator, accompanying them to hearings, and it was heartbreaking to go through months and years of appeals to have them denied for lack of proof — most lawyers just drag out the process, hoping that the longer people are here building roots, the less likely they are to be deported. Yet many still were, even though they were often educated professionals in their own countries, and to the casual observer, were solid middle class citizens here as well.)
I’d love to see more “unbiased” stats as a prereq for rational decisions and discussions. Meanwhile, letting nonviolent offenders out on home parole seems more humane all around — they shouldn’t be subjected to the violently mentally ill or real felons.
“I’d love to see more “unbiased” stats as a prereq for rational decisions and discussions.”
Definitely. Me too. Bigtime.
(Okay, back to my deadline. Must not blog, must not blog.)