Monday the Los Angeles County Supervisors voted to allocate a maximum of $500 grand to conduct a two year study as to how the LA County Jail can deal with its overcrowding.
Before you freak out at the price tag, trust me, this is a good thing. Our LA County Jail system is the largest in the country and arguably one of the most dysfunctional simply because the ghastly overcrowding is a recipe for ongoing disaster.
There’s a saying among guys who’ve spent time in California’s prisons: if you can make it in the County, you can make it in any prison in the country. Even experienced cons consider LA County Jail to bethat dangerous and chaotic.
If it ain’t safe for the inmates, it’s not great for the deputies guarding the inmates either.
(And remember, a huge percentage of the people in spending their nights in LA County Jail have not been convicted of anything. They are awaiting trial.)
With the pressure on to reduce the state prison populations, this will mean more low-level lawbreakers kept at a local level, thus the jail overcrowding is only likely to get worse. So this is one of those instances where it’s wise to spend money in order to save more in the long run.
The study will be conducted by the Vera Institute of Justice—very smart people in general, but also the group that got hired to do a nearly identical study for the New York City jail system. Then when NYC had the good sense to follow most of Vera’s recommendations—Presto!—-the city managed to lower its jail pop by 30 percent.
Of course it is that last sentence above that is the key. I have no doubt that Vera can do the job—even though LA’s jail system presents a tougher challenge than did New York’s. But will LA have the intelligence and the huevos to follow whatever reasonable recommendations the Vera folks make? Let us hope so.
“Los Angeles County’s criminal justice system is so backed up that many people are stuck for months in the jail, although they pose no risk to public safety, simply because they are too poor to make bail,” said Melinda Bird, ACLU of Southern California’s senior counsel. (The So Cal ACLU is the court-ordered monitor for LA County Jail system.) “Although these pretrial detainees are presumed innocent, the overcrowded conditions in which they are housed expose them to extreme violence and harsh and degrading conditions that violate all constitutional minimums.”
My smart pal Frank Stoltz of KPCC also has this story.
One of the biggest problems with the LA County jail is the number of mentally ill people housed there due to the lack of other facility’s that can properly treat them. It’s a disgraceful situation that points directly back to Gov Ronald Raygun and his Fatwa on Govt mental health facilities.
BTW, Raygun is probably rolling over in his grave today, the leftist FMLN candidate “Mauricio Funes” won the election over the right wing Arenas Party in El Salvador to take power for the first time in decades. Seems the whole western hemisphere is moving to the left after having to deal so long with the failed right wing policies of neo-liberalism and monopoly capitalism.
Adelante!
Spineless bureaucrats who can’t think for themselves hire expensive consultants to tell them to do what they know they should already being doing, but are afraid to do it without a fancy study saying it is OK to do.
If anyone really wanted to solve the overcrowding problem they could easily start housing prisoners in a tent city just as our Marines are housed in Afghanistan
Texas has a new tent city for prisoners.
http://tinyurl.com/crbovy
However if the county wanted to save $500,000 they could just read the existing studies by VERA on dealing with prison overcrowding and start implementing a few of suggestions.
http://www.vera.org/publication_pdf/drugcourts.pdf
More Links to Existing VERA Studies
http://www.vera.org/publication_pdf/164_251.pdf
http://www.vera.org/publication_pdf/379_727.pdf
DQ: One of the biggest problems with the LA County jail is the number of mentally ill people housed there
What a surprise given the percentage of nuts in California. I’m surprised that the entire jail isn’t a mental institution.
– – –
DQ: Seems the whole western hemisphere is moving to the left
It’s no wonder when a Marxist, who compares himself to Obama, buys votes from 95% of the people with promises to take the money from the remaining 5% and redistribute that wealth to them–and, when the people are stupid and gullible enough to take the bait only to find that the promises come at a price–freedom, after which they revert back to the right.
they need to get sheriff joe from arizona to show them how its done.
Sheriff Joe’s got it goin on. Doing the “lock-step” down Main Street on the way to the Green Bologna Mainline. that’s justice the way it OUGHT to be served up. Kudos and High Fives to Sheriff Joe Arpaio of Phoenix AZ. It won’t be long until more lawmen and there populace jurisdictions adopt the so-called “draconian” methods. Why? Because they work!
“It’s no wonder when a Marxist, who compares himself to Obama, buys votes from 95% of the people with promises to take the money from the remaining 5% and redistribute that wealth to them”
Woody if that is true, and it has been in much of Latin America, then I’m surprised they(Central Americans), are civilized enough to throw the bastards (5%ers), out through a democratic election.
Most countries that have 5% ownership of all the wealth of a country would, and should, resurrect the guillotine for their ass’s.
And with the AIG Capitalist pigs currently at the feeding trough we might just consider doing the same.
PS, Speaking of buying a country I think that’s what Raygun and his “Freedom Fighters” did in Central America in the 80’s, at a cost of hundreds of thousands of lives.
Well you know what the old saying is concerning “Payback”, Hep me Lawd!
$500,000.00 would buy lots of tents, pink underwear and green bologna. There is plenty of desert space between Barstow and the Nevada border for an Arpaio tent city. I’ll bet the recidivisom rate is lower in Arpaio’s jails. The prison industral complex would save lots of money using tents, but too many parrots would be squaking about draconian and vitriol, “thier” feathers are easily fuffled.
i was just in that horrible place for a very low level crime and most of all on ridiculous charges. its very overcrowded and the deputies neglected my medical concerns. i was treated inhumanly and fed like a dog. now there is only one hot meal and in order to clean your dorm you have to use your own t shirt or clothes because we are not given brooms or mops anymore. everyone is sick and coughing i was coughing up blood and did not receive medical care until i was gonna go man down. the abuse from the deputies is insane and most of all the abuse from fellow inmates my safety was always in jeopardy. many do not know what happens behind closed doors in county.