State Prison Crowding Emergency Declared
October 5, 2006 SACRAMENTO — With California's jam-packed prisons nearly out of room for more felons, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Wednesday proclaimed a state of emergency, an unusual move that could allow the transfer of inmates as soon as next month to other states without their consent. The governor said he was taking the extraordinary step because teeming conditions have created a health risk and "extreme peril" for officers and inmates at 29 of the state's 33 prisons. Crowding is so severe, the governor's emergency decree says, that it has overwhelmed water, sewer and electrical systems at some prisons and fueled hundreds of prison riots, melees and smaller disturbances in the last year. At one maximum security prison, in Folsom, violence is so prevalent all inmates are now fed in their cells. Without immediate action, officials said they would run out of prison beds next summer. That would leave inmates to pile up in county jails, many of which are already overcrowded or operate under court-imposed population caps that force them to grant some felons early release. "Our prisons are now beyond maximum capacity, and we must act immediately and aggressively to resolve this issue," Schwarzenegger said in a statement. Prisoner rights advocates questioned the timing of the announcement. Donald Specter, director of the Prison Law Office, a nonprofit firm that has won numerous lawsuits challenging conditions inside state lockups, called the emergency declaration "political theater" by a governor running for reelection. "Why now? This is an idiotic thing to be spending time on, because the number of beds they will be able to find in other states will amount to a grain of sand on a beach," Specter said. "In terms of serious reform, there is nothing about this that makes sense." At a media briefing, Corrections Secretary James Tilton said the troubles are so pervasive that he could not wait for legislators to act. He said the emergency proclamation allows him to skirt the state's cumbersome competitive-bidding process and sign contracts for out-of-state beds quickly. Tilton said officials would begin by transferring volunteers as early as November and, if necessary, create more space later through mandatory moves. Though overcrowding has long been an issue in the state's lockups, it has reached crisis levels over the last few years, with most of California's prisons packed to twice their intended capacity. Of the 172,000 men and women behind bars, about 17,000 are in what Tilton called "bad beds" — bunks in areas not designed as living space. Prisoners now sleep in converted gyms, hallways and lounges. Roughly 1,500 sleep in triple-decker bunks. Tilton said the state is poised to sign three- to five-year contracts for 2,200 beds at private prisons in Oklahoma, Indiana, Arizona and Tennessee. An additional 19 states have expressed an interest in housing California's felons, he said, representing a total of about 10,000 beds in private and government facilities. Based on early negotiations, Tilton predicted the cost of housing inmates out of state would be less than the in-state costs. The out-of-state facilities would need to provide the same protections to inmates that they receive under California law, Tilton said. Tilton said he hoped to begin the transfers with 200 male inmates next month and continue transferring 100 to 200 weekly, after a screening process places convicts with facilities that match their security level. A recent survey by authorities in the prisons suggested that as many as 19,500 convicts were interested in a voluntary transfer, though Tilton said the number may not be solid. "We want to make sure they know that this does not mean early release in Florida," Tilton quipped, noting that the initial survey, completed by 141,833 inmates, was not a binding agreement. Many of those who volunteer could also be screened out if they have serious mental health or medical problems. Tilton said such inmates require special handling because the medical and mental health care in California's prisons are under federal oversight after two class-action lawsuits against the state. If mandatory transfers are necessary, officials will target two categories of inmates first: illegal immigrants scheduled for deportation upon release and prisoners who would be paroled to states other than California. Lawyers for inmates said that although they support voluntary transfers, they would challenge any involuntary moves. Democratic lawmakers also criticized the Republican governor, saying he had dawdled despite repeated warnings about the growing problems. Last fall, for instance, the chief of adult prisons said in a memo that a "population crisis" was creating "an imminent and substantial threat to the public safety." "If he had listened to his own people back then, we wouldn't be in this crisis," said Assemblyman Mark Leno (D-San Francisco), chairman of the Assembly Public Safety Committee. Leno said the Schwarzenegger administration could have eased crowding early on through parole reform, specifically, by allowing thousands of low-level parole violators to face sanctions in their communities rather than returning them to prison. Corrections officials said they have been working on short- and long-term solutions to the crowding crisis, but noted that their plans were rejected by lawmakers during the recent special session on prisons that Schwarzenegger called this summer. That session ended in August, when legislators said no to a $6-billion package of proposals from the governor. They included forcible transfers out of state of 5,000 illegal immigrant felons facing deportation, the use of private facilities in California to house 4,000 low-security inmates, and the transfer of 4,500 nonviolent female prisoners — about 40% of the total of incarcerated women — to regional correctional centers. Legislators said the governor's package was hastily assembled, and some Democrats said the mandatory out-of-state transfers could be unconstitutional. They asked the administration to return next year with a new set of proposals. Recent projections show the prison population will continue to rise steeply. By 2011, the forecast shows, California would have more than 193,000 inmates, equal to the population of Irvine. Though concerned about the population crunch and extra risk posed to their members, the state's prison guards union expressed skepticism about the idea of out-of-state transfers, especially mandatory moves. "If you do something mandatory, violence will go up," said Robert Dean,
spokesman for the California Correctional Peace Officers Assn. "These guys
aren't going to want to leave their families behind, I can tell you that."
Inmates to be sent out of state
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger declared a prison overcrowding emergency Wednesday in California, paving the way for inmate transfers to out-of-state institutions within a month. Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation Secretary James Tilton said that the state is on the verge of signing no-bid, sole-source contracts with three private prison companies and that he expects to begin sending inmates to Indiana, Oklahoma, Tennessee and Arizona at a rate of 100 to 200 a month within 30 days. In a recent survey, Tilton said, 19,000 inmates expressed interest in doing their time in other states. He said his immediate goal is to get 5,000 of them to follow through. The corrections secretary indicated at a Capitol press conference that he anticipates no difficulty in getting enough inmates to sign up willingly. "If I was living in a gym with 240 other individuals and had no (educational or vocational) program, I'd probably raise my hand also, to get a chance to get out of that environment and into a safe environment, as well as to get some program," Tilton said. But if he can't recruit enough volunteers, Tilton said, the prison agency will try to force convicts into the transfers, starting with foreign nationals. The idea of forced transfers was met with opposition from a leading legislative Democrat, the prison officers union, an inmates rights lawyer and the public policy director of a Latino rights group. California's prison system houses more than 172,000 inmates in space designed for about half that many. Schwarzenegger sought twice this year to embark on an expansion program to address overcrowding, but he was rejected by the Legislature. In the emergency proclamation he signed Wednesday, Schwarzenegger said he found "conditions of extreme peril" in 29 of California's 33 prisons, where authorities counted 4,313 inmate assaults and batteries last year, including 1,671 on the staff. The proclamation linked the violence to overcrowding -- also a factor, Schwarzenegger said, in deadly violent prison takeovers in recent decades in Attica, N.Y., New Mexico and Lucasville, Ohio. "Our prisons are now beyond maximum capacity, and we must act immediately and aggressively to resolve this issue," Schwarzenegger said in a statement. The Republican governor's proclamation acknowledged that "strict compliance" with the state penal code would "prevent, hinder or delay" the involuntary transfer of inmates. As a result, the proclamation said that the "applicable provisions of these statutes are suspended" for "the scope and duration" of the overcrowding crisis -- in effect letting Schwarzenegger bypass the legislative process. First on the list of forced transfers would be inmates who had previously been deported by the federal government. Next would be inmates who will be paroled outside California, then inmates with no family or "supportive ties" in the state, followed by inmates with families in other states and then "other inmates as deemed necessary" by the corrections secretary. The prospect of the forced transfers was met with protest by state Senate Majority Leader Gloria Romero, D-Los Angeles, and others. "I believe he's breaking the law in trying to send them out on an involuntary basis," Romero said. "He's basically acknowledging that he can't handle the situation, and he's asking other states to do it for him." California Correctional Peace Officers Association Vice President Robert Dean said forced transfers could incite violence. "When it's not voluntary, what's the guy going to do? He's not even going to get on the bus," Dean said. Steve Fama of the Prison Law Office said prisoners must agree to the transfers and be allowed to talk to lawyers. "I don't like the idea that California is getting into the business of mass exportation of prisoners to private profiteers," Fama said. "I think it's a state function to imprison." Singling out any particular group of inmates for transfers, such as foreign nationals, raises constitutional questions, according to Francisco Estrada of the Mexican-American Legal Defense and Educational Fund. "You target any group of folks like this, and you run into problems," Estrada said. But Assemblyman Todd Spitzer, R-Orange, hailed Schwarzenegger for the emergency move. "The governor showed real leadership," Spitzer said. "We're in a desperate situation here. He called a special session of the Legislature, but the Democratic leaders did nothing to address the issue." Tilton said he expected the transfers to result in a net cost saving to the state, with the private firms charging about $60 a day on average to house inmates compared to $90 in California. He identified the Corrections Corporation of America, Cornell Corrections and the Geo Group as the private prison companies that will receive the no-bid contracts to handle the initial movement of prisoners to the other states. Geo had contributed more than $90,000 to Schwarzenegger over the years.
Julie Soderlund, a spokeswoman for the governor's re-election campaign,
said Wed-nesday that he recently returned the contributions to the company.
TRANSFER PLAN AT A GLANCE • State will send 100 to 200 inmates a month to private prisons in Indiana, Tennessee, Oklahoma and Arizona. • Administration hopes to ultimately transfer at least 5,000 inmates. • 19,000 inmates expressed interest in going. • Officials say the transfer could ease overcrowding and save money. About the writer:
Posted on Mon, Sep. 18, 2006
CALIFORNIA PRISON CRISIS
By Mike Zapler
SACRAMENTO - Three months ago, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger called on state legislators to take ``swift and dramatic action'' to fix what he called a ``dangerous situation'' in California's jam-packed prisons. But lawmakers adjourned for the year at the end of August without passing a single measure to address the system's myriad problems. And while the legislators have gone home, prison officials warn they will run out of beds by June. Already inmates are stacked on double- and triple-bunks in gymnasiums and day centers. ``There's a general sense of caution on anything involving crime and prisons'' in California, said Robert Weisberg, director of Stanford University Law School's Criminal Justice Center. But time is running out. ``The state has about a two-year window to do something, but not much more and maybe less than that.'' The reform stalemate -- complicated by the influence of the powerful prison guards union -- is the latest in a history of failures by the state to address what everyone agrees is a problem-plagued system, but no one seems able or willing to fix. And it could force federal officials and Schwarzenegger to take matters into their own hands to relieve overcrowding and improve what's been described as deplorable inmate medical care. Steve Fama of the Prison Law Office, which uses the courts to ensure better treatment of inmates, said his organization is weighing a federal lawsuit contending that overcrowding conditions amount to ``cruel and unusual punishment.'' If successful, such a case could result in a cap on the prison population, he said. Options for crowding ``We're looking at all the legal options to get at overcrowding,'' Fama said, ``which is a root cause of a lot of major problems in prisons.'' Robert Sillen, the former head of the Santa Clara Valley Health and Hospital System who was appointed by a federal judge earlier this year to take over the prison health care system, said he's prepared, if necessary, to go around the Legislature and seize money from the state general fund to build new medical facilities. Among the casualties of the recent legislative session was a proposal, favored by Sillen, to build two new prison hospitals. ``These facilities will be built,'' Sillen said, ``and they will be paid for by the state.'' Schwarzenegger has indicated he may declare a state of emergency in the prisons, allowing him to impose measures, such as shipping inmates to other states or re-opening mothballed prison facilities. Schwarzenegger called for a special session of the Legislature in June, declaring that ``if we don't address this very dangerous situation as quickly as possible, the courts may very well take over the entire prison system and order early release of tens of thousands of prisoners.'' Such a scenario seems unlikely in the foreseeable future; however, there is no dispute that prisons are dangerously overcrowded, housing nearly double the inmates they were designed for. But politics prevailed over that apparent urgency. The gubernatorial election created a difficult backdrop for debate on prison reform. At the same time he is running for re-election, Schwarzenegger is sparring with the powerful prison guards union over a new contract. As labor negotiations stumbled, the California Correctional Peace Officers Association stepped up its opposition to the governor's reform package, a scaled-back version of which died in the Assembly in the waning hours of the Legislature. ``It was cursory, it was window dressing, and it was a quick fix,'' Lance Corcoran, chief of governmental affairs for the 31,000-member CCPOA, said of Schwarzenegger's proposal. The union has since endorsed Schwarzenegger's opponent, Democratic state Treasurer Phil Angelides. Governor's proposal The governor proposed building two new prisons, constructing 10 community ``re-entry'' facilities around the state, sending 5,000 inmates to prisons in other states, and moving 4,500 non-violent female inmates into community facilities. The Senate approved planning money for several of the ideas, and agreed to expand some existing prisons, but the Assembly balked, probably delaying any significant reform efforts until next year. ``I think the Legislature missed an opportunity,'' said state Sen. Mike Machado, D-Stockton, who presided over a series of prison hearings in August. He added, however, that the Legislature is continuing to work with prison officials to establish programs to help inmates succeed after they're released. Some experts believe the special session may have been doomed to fail, given the complexity of the issue, and the political and time constraints lawmakers were under. They hope the atmosphere will be different next year -- after the election -- and that legislators will embark on a comprehensive reform effort that considers not only prison construction but sentencing and parole laws. Seven out of 10 inmates in California return to prison, the highest recidivism rate in the nation. ``Legislators will feel a little more comfortable about sticking their neck out,'' Weisberg, the law professor, predicted. James Tilton, who was named the permanent corrections secretary last week after serving in an acting capacity since April, said he believes he made strides during the special session convincing lawmakers that a crisis does in fact exist. He said he'll be prepared to forge ahead next year, particularly on the proposal to build ``re-entry'' facilities throughout the state to rehabilitate inmates before they're released. In the meantime, outside forces will continue to exert pressure for change. Schwarzenegger is contending with claims from a federal court official that he buckled on reform efforts in response to pressure from the prison guards union. Although the governor has taken steps recently that appear to distance him from the union, a hearing on the issue is scheduled Oct. 4. And Sillen, the federal appointee managing prison health care, is forging ahead with his own plan for new prison medical facilities, with or without the help of the Legislature. Still, it remains an open question whether lawmakers -- always concerned about being labeled soft on crime -- are capable of tackling the issue. ``Prisons are sort of like the third rail of politics in the state,'' Sillen said. ``It certainly didn't surprise me that nothing came out of the special session.'' Contact Mike Zapler at mzapler@mercurynews.com or (916) 441-4603.
Article Last Updated: 9/12/2006 09:01 PM
Jailed threat
LA Daily News WHILE marking the fifth anniversary of 9-11, many noted that the U.S. has not suffered a coordinated domestic terror attack since 2001. But there have been plenty of close calls. Just last year, jihadists were arrested in Torrance on suspicion of robbing gas stations to fund a string of terror attacks on U.S. military facilities and Jewish synagogues in the region. Some of those believed to be part of the operation were members of the radical Islamic group Jam'iyyat Ul-Islam Is-Saheeh. They met at Folsom State Prison, where the group was founded in 1997. Therein lies the giant warning in this story, which has been backed up by numerous federal officials and counterterrorism experts: County jails and state prisons can be breeding grounds for radicalism and terror recruits. It's no secret that California's prisons and jails are in atrocious shape. Overcrowding, abuse, dismal health care and an unchecked guards union all contribute to the problem. And while politicians like to talk about the need to correct the system, no one seems to possess the will or the power to do anything about it. But this is a crisis that cannot be ignored. At stake is not only the humanitarian issue of how we treat our prisoners, or even the criminal-justice question of whether incarceration encourages or reduces recidivism. At stake is national security itself. Overcrowded and abusive prisons only further harden inmates, who then search for the solace - and an outlet for their anger - that radicalized Islam can provide. With international terrorists looking for American allies to conduct their attacks, this is a serious threat. It's one more reason to move quickly on cleaning up our corrections system - not that we needed one.
Posted on Sun, Sep. 10, 2006 EDITORIAL State prison crowding is becoming a crisis
CALIFORNIA'S PRISON system has been overcrowded for years, and the situation is getting worse as the state grows. With 172,000 inmates in a system designed to hold fewer than 100,000, it should be obvious to our lawmakers that new facilities are needed quickly. If nothing is done, California could be forced to release thousands of inmates before they serve out their sentences. Such and action might undermine the state's successful "three-strikes" law that increased sentences for repeat offenders. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger recognized the problem and called a special session of the Legislature last month to address the situation. He proposed a $6 billion prison-building and reform package. The governor's plan would have financed two new $500 million prisons with bond money, which would allow them to be built quickly. In addition to the new prisons, Schwarzenegger sought to establish new community-based prison facilities to house and counsel criminals who are about to be released. The purpose of the centers and counseling would be to help prepare inmates to return to society, get jobs and avoid coming back into the system. Also, under the governor's plan, 4,500 nonviolent female prisoners who are near their release time would be moved to community correctional facilities that are closer to their families. Unfortunately, the Legislature rejected Schwarzenegger's plan. Some opponents of the governor believe that California can solve its prison problem by reducing recidivism and releasing prisoners. That is hardly a solution. Reducing the number of repeat offenders makes sense and is part of the governor's plan. But it will take years for there to be any significant reduction in the prison population. The alternative is to either reduce sentences and free inmates, which is no real solution to the problem, either. California's prison crowding has reached crisis proportions and needs to be dealt with as quickly as possible. Corrections officials say that they will run out of space for new convicts by next June, much less relieve crowded conditions. If California is to maintain its tough sentencing laws, which have contributed to lower crime rates in the state, it must not allow dangerous criminals to get out of prison early or receive shorter sentences. To deal with a problem the Legislature refuses to adequately address, Schwarzenegger may have to use his emergency powers to ease the crowding in the state's prison system One move the governor is seriously considering is contracting with other states to take as many as 10,000 inmates. Some states already have expressed interest in housing California inmates, according to James Tilton, acting secretary of the state's Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. Schwarzenegger also could open some buildings that are not used, such as a women's prison in Stockton and a youth detention center in Whittier. These actions would ease crowding in the prison system for a few years, but they are not long-term solutions. Neither is the Democrat-controlled Legislature's alternative. Its plan would cost less than $1 billion and would allow only an additional 5,340 beds. The governor and Legislature need to agree on a compromise plan that allows for more expansion of prison facilities, establishes programs to reduce recidivism and offers alternatives to incarceration for some first-time, nonviolent criminals. If they cannot agree soon, the governor should then declare a public-safety emergency and start sending some inmates to other states. Maybe that will get the Legislature to act on a reasonable response to gross prison overcrowding.
http://www.ludingtondailynews.com/news.php?story_id=32795 Posted: 9-7-2006 GEO-California deal faces uncertain future
By JOE BOOMGAARD
A deal that might have supplied California inmates to the former Michigan Youth Correctional Facility in Lake County could be in jeopardy. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and the California’s Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) proposed sending inmates to out-of-state facilities — potentially including the Lake County prison — without getting the inmates’ permission. However, the future of the proposal is unclear. The California Assembly refused to vote on the measure despite the California Senate passing a bill allowing the transfers only with the inmate’s permission, which is current California law. The California legislature, a part-time legislature, left session for the year Friday without approving Schwarzenegger’s four-bill package. The bills faced opposition by Republicans in the Assembly as well as the corrections officer union and garnered only lukewarm support from Democrats. In addition, Republican Gov. Schwarzenegger also faces a challenge from Democrat Phil Angelides in the November election. The Baldwin area facility was mentioned as a possible recipient of California inmates, and officials from California reportedly visited the site earlier this summer. On Saturday, Schwarzenegger’s office said he was considering using his emergency powers to contract with other states to take as many as 10,000 inmates, according to an Associated Press report. “The administration has not ruled out a solution for the overcrowding problem,” Schwarzenegger’s communications director, Andy Mendelsohn, told the AP Friday. Pablo Paez, communications director for GEO Group which owns the Lake County prison, said he had “nothing new to report” with regard to any deal to house inmates there. Paez said GEO has been in contact with California and with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement regarding possibly renting bed space at the facility a few miles north of Baldwin. Refusing to name where else GEO is seeking rentals, Paez said “the company remains active in marketing our facility.” Bill Sessa, spokesman for the CDCR, said the Baldwin facility was “one of many” the CDCR considered to house inmates from its overcrowded prisons. “I do know we’ve had some conversations with people from (GEO about the Baldwin prison),” Sessa said. “It’s an option we’re exploring,” Sessa said of the possibility of using the Baldwin prison. “What we can do is transfer inmates who volunteer to be moved.” Sessa said the CDCR is conducting a survey of inmates in all security levels to see what response they’ll get to being moved to out-of-state facilities. “What we ultimately do remains to be seen,” Sessa said. Shipping inmates out of state does not come at a cost savings for California, but seeks to alleviate the state’s overcrowding problem, according to Sessa. “It’s not necessarily cheaper. Cost is not the driving issue — overcrowding is,” Sessa said. California’s overcrowded prison system is predicted to get even worse in the coming years. Prisoners are housed in portions of the facilities not designed for housing prisoners, Sessa said, and Schwarzenegger’s plan was designed to immediately ameliorate the overcrowding. Greg Palmore, spokesperson from the Detroit office of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), a division of the Department of Homeland Security, said ICE is looking throughout the state for facilities to house the department’s detainees, most of whom are held for administrative reasons. “Our detainees primarily are held for administrative purposes,” Palmore said. “Occasionally, (we hold) a criminal to be removed from the country. But most are in some administrative process. “We believe in the safe, humane treatment of people in our custody.” Palmore said the agency continually looks for additional bed space throughout the area it serves. All ICE bed space in Michigan and Ohio is managed through Detroit ICE office. “We’ve been looking around primarily for additional detention space through the state,” Palmore said. “We’ve had some people on site (in Baldwin) to take a look around and see if it meets our needs.” Palmore said ICE is not looking at any crisis situation or inmate overflow at this time, and it has no timetable to find other bed space throughout the region. “All our bed space is transient,” Palmore said. “Our goal is to look at facilities strategically placed to meet our needs.” Palmore wouldn’t say what other facilities, if any, are being considered
in Michigan.
jboomgaard@ludingtondailynews.com
Posted on Wed, Sep. 06, 2006
Legislature must act soon as prisons run out of space
Mercury News Editorial California is fortunate that conditions in its crowded prisons haven't yet led to riots. But by late spring, the acting head of prisons predicts, the system will reach its bursting point. It will fill even makeshift beds in day rooms and libraries and no longer be able to accept new prisoners. County jails that serve as holding tanks and have their own caps on the number of inmates they can safely house might begin releasing other prisoners and suspects into the community. Before adjourning last week, legislators ignored the problem, despite the special prison session that Gov. Schwarzenegger had called in June. If they continue to abdicate, the federal judge overseeing some operations of the system will probably step in, with expensive solutions the Legislature and taxpayers might not like. Prisons must be a top priority when lawmakers return to Sacramento next year. Parole and sentencing reform must be part of the solution. Neither the governor's excessive $6 billion prison-building scheme, nor the Senate's $918 million alternative, which the Assembly turned aside, included it. Experts like UC-Irvine criminologist Joan Petersilia say that as many as 10 percent of the 173,000 inmates don't belong in the state's 33 prisons. They're non-violent repeat offenders who churn through the system as a result of technical parole violations. Thousands more are in for drug use. Other states have taken different approaches to sentencing and parole, including using more electronic monitoring. Parolees facing revocation for drug use serve time in community settings and get treatment. In California, parole lasts three years. Elsewhere, the seriousness of an offense determines the length of time, allowing parole officers to focus on the most dangerous. Some prison construction will be unavoidable. Bob Sillen, the former head of Santa Clara County's health system and now the court-appointed overseer of prison's dismal medical care, wants two new facilities: one for the sick and one for the aging. With the power of a federal judge behind him, he'll get his wish. There's also some room for expansion at existing sites; the Senate wanted to spend $600 million to add 5,340 beds at 11 locations. Schwarzenegger proposed one idea that deserved approval: transferring 4,500 non-violent female offenders -- 40 percent of women in prison -- to small, locally based facilities where they'd get job training, counseling and substance-abuse treatment. Such a move would free up more beds, though probably not before 2008, and would mark a big policy shift after three decades of simply lengthening sentences across the board and building more cells. The goal would be cutting the recidivism rate, now the nation's highest, with 70 percent returning within three years. Since the state spends $35,000 per year to warehouse an inmate, the result would save money, too. The state can't build its way out of the crisis. Legislators have only a few more months to figure that out.
Article Launched: 8/15/2006 12:00 AM
Chino mayor wants new inmate admissions at CIM stopped By Mason Stockstill, Staff Writer
CHINO -- The mayor of Chino is urging Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to
halt all new inmate admissions at the California Institution for Men.
Special Report: Criminal
Neglect
"This troubling statistic is exacerbated by the fact that many guards are working mandatory 16-hour shifts at the prison, thus compromising the safety of the guards, inmates and the Chino community," Yates wrote. The mayor sent his letter in response to a series of articles, published this past month in the Daily Bulletin, outlining decades of problems at the prison that have made its conditions among the worst in the state. A spokeswoman for the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation said the concerns Yates raised about CIM are present throughout the state prison system. "We understand the mayor's concerns, but what he's asking for is not an option at this point," said spokeswoman Elaine Jennings. In June, Schwarzenegger called for a special session of the Legislature to deal with the population crisis in California's 33 state prisons, which currently hold about 172,000 inmates. Since then, the governor has proposed spending $6 billion to build two new prisons as well as renovating and adding on to existing facilities. Additionally, Schwarzenegger's plans call for moving as many as 4,500 female offenders into community-based facilities and using some of that freed-up space for male inmates. The department also is looking at possibilities previously not considered in California, such as sending illegal immigrant inmates to out-of-state prisons and reopening closed facilities. The department is considering a plan to change CIM's mission from a reception center -- a processing facility for newly arrived inmates -- to one that holds medium-security inmates. Officials anticipate moving the reception center operations to newer prisons, such as the California State Prison-Los Angeles County in Lancaster. "This is a systemwide issue. All of our facilities are beyond their capacity," Jennings said. "That's why the special session was called, and that's why it's such a critical issue. We hope that the reforms that are being put forward are going to address those on a systemwide basis." Yates said he understands the crisis facing the department, but he believes the city is uniquely impacted by the problems because it is home to three institutions -- CIM, the California Institution for Women and the Heman G. Stark Youth Correctional Facility -- with a total population exceeding 10,000. "While we acknowledge that the prison system in California is in critical
condition, we feel the city of Chino has carried more than our share of
the burden," he said.
Mason Stockstill can be reached by e-mail at mason.stockstillor by phone at (909) 483-9354.
Prison funds may go to medical care
(Updated Tuesday, August 15, 2006, 8:55 AM) SACRAMENTO — Instead of building two new prisons, lawmakers this month may consider a plan to build up to six medical and mental health facilities for inmates, a Schwarzenegger administration official said Monday. The plan is seen as a way to relieve overcrowding and at the same time fulfill the mandates of Robert Sillen, a federal court-appointed receiver who has control over the state's failing prison medical system. Sillen says the state must dramatically improve inmate medical care. The idea is to build the facilities in urban areas near prisons. That would seem to increase the chances that cities like Fresno in the prison-heavy San Joaquin Valley would be candidates for a facility. On the other hand, however, the region's shortage of medical professionals might make it less of a contender. Sillen proposed in July that the $1 billion in planned spending on new prisons be spent on multi-purpose medical/mental health facilities rather than conventional prisons. On Monday, the Schwarzenegger administration gave its strongest endorsement yet of that idea. "We agree that we shouldn't duplicate," said acting Corrections secretary James Tilton at a news conference Monday. "We shouldn't go build new prisons and then come back later and build medical beds." The plan, which is evolving daily, is part of a nearly $6 billion Schwarzenegger proposal to ease crowding in the state's 33 prisons. Many elements of the plan must be approved by the Legislature, which has just begun examining the governor's proposal. Assembly Member Nicole Parra, D-Hanford, is against building conventional prisons in the Valley, which already is home to nearly one-third of the state's prisons — including seven in Parra's district. But Parra, co-author of the prison construction bill, said she was open to the idea of bringing medical or mental health prisons to the region, though she added that "there are lots of questions to ask." The chief concern is the region's shortage of medical professionals. There are 87 primary-care doctors per 100,000 residents in the Valley, compared with the statewide average of 126 per 100,000, according to a report to be released today by the Central Valley Health Policy Institute at California State University, Fresno. Bringing a prison medical facility to the Valley would just "compound the challenges that we already have," said Laurie Primavera, the institute's associate director. For example, "We can't even provide adequate mental health care outside prisons." Tilton did not rule out the Central Valley as a candidate, adding that he has yet to talk about specific sites with Sillen. Sillen's spokeswoman, Rachael Kagan, said the receiver wants to put the medical facilities where it would be easier to recruit staff, such as urban areas that are close to academic institutions. The problem of recruiting medical workers to the Valley is best exemplified by the troubles at Coalinga State Hospital. The state-of-the-art, $388 million facility was designed to house 1,500 mentally ill patients, mostly high-risk sexual offenders sent there by civil courts. But nine months after opening, only 200 of the hospital's beds were filled. The vacancy has been blamed on a shortage of qualified doctors, nurses, social workers and other technicians. Early drafts of Schwarzenegger's prison plan showed two new prisons with a total of 9,000 beds, some available as soon as in 2011. Tilton said Monday officials now are considering four to six facilities with a total of 5,000 medical beds and 5,000 mental-health beds, though the plan is in flux. He said the facilities could be built near existing prisons "so that you have that interface of the regular population." A federal judge gave Sillen control of the prisons' in April after years of well-documented neglect of inmate medical needs. He has vast powers over the system and can spend money on improving health care no matter what the Legislature does this month, Kagan said. The prisons' mental health system also is in receivership under a separate case overseen by Special Master J. Michael Keating. The reporter can be reached at eschultz@fresnobee.com or (916) 326-5541.
http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2006/08/13/18297041.php They Don't Triple Bunk Dogs!
They Don't Triple Bunk Dogs!
Pick up a newspaper, turn on your favorite TV news station, tune into a local radio talk show and listen to the buzz. Everyone is talking about the "Prison Health Care Crisis" and the "Inhumane Prison Overcrowding" bloating the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) prison system. What you are reading, seeing and hearing are a lot of charts, numbers, predictions and comments from dozens of disingenuous vote-seeking politicians and prison officials. They are promoting their "cure" for the out-of-control catastrophe happening right now behind the walls of the entire California prison system. What you are not reading, seeing and hearing about are all the personal horror stories of specific prisoners who are suffering, being mis-diagnosed and neglected by prison medical staff. It is well documented that prison officials have allowed this mistreatment to go on intentionally for many years. The entire prison system has gone mad with deceit, secrecy and greed at the expense of prisoner's health and California taxpayers. Now, just like previous state governors, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has promised "Fantastic Prison Reform." This was before he decided to crawl into bed with the state's powerful prison guard's union, the California Correctional Peace Officer's Association (CCPOA). In February this year, Robert Sillen, the former director of the Santa Clara Valley Health and Hospital system, was appointed by U.S. District Court Judge Thelton Henderson. Sillen was appointed to revamp medical care inside California prisons blamed an inept state bureaucracy, the governor and lawmakers for the prison crisis and suggested he would send federal marshals to Sacramento to seize money if legislators and Schwarzenegger don't provide sufficient funding to improve care for the state's 173,000 prisoners. Health care and overcrowding has been in a tailspin for many years. The problem accelerated during the mid-l990's when (then) Gov. Pete Wilson changed the policy allowing media access to individual/specific prisoners who had legitimate concerns regarding prison issues that included health care and overcrowding. Gov. Wilson also stopped a twenty year plus policy of prisoners writing the media confidentially (in sealed envelopes), without incident., by claiming it was an "institutional safety and security" matter. His claim was baseless and without merit. He duped the public into believing absolute nonsense without a shred of evidence to support his lies. During the mid-1990s, the media ban served prison officials well preventing public knowledge of incidents. Consider the boiling alive of prisoner Vonn Dortch at Pelican Bay State Prison, the departments policy of encouraging the use of deadly force (high-powered rifle fire) to break up fist fights on prison yards; and the lack of overall medical and mental health treatment of prisoners, their deaths, permanent injuries and disabilities. If prisoners with legitimate claims want to inform the media of a problem behind the walls, his or her only options are to write the problem in an unsealed letter which will be heavily censored by prison officials, or, by way of a collect phone call that is recorded and monitored. If either of these methods reveal a claim of prison staff misconduct or a serious unhealthy living condition, that piece of mail will be confiscated or that phone call will be ubruptly terminated. The prisoner may be subjected to disciplinary action or confined to an isolation cell "pending investigation" of a fabricated rule violation. The CDCR has an estimated $8.7 billion budget. And as mentioned, 173,000 prisoners. There are 33 state prisons that were designed for about half of the present population. Overcrowding has gotten so bad that more than 16,000 convicts are sleeping in gymnasiums and TV/day rooms. Another 117,000 are out on the streets, with 70 percent of them likely to return to prison within three years. Solano State Prison in Vacaville California is an example of severe
overcrowding and medical health for prisoners at its worst. There are over
6,000 prisoners in Solano. The prison was designed for less than half of
that. The prisoners are seperated on four yards, numbers #1
Yards #1 and #2 house "level three" prisoners and yards #3 and #4 house "level two prisoners. A convict's level is determined by a point system that allows a prisoner to be housed in a more minimum security facility. A convict must be involved for many years, "programing" in order to be placed in a level two institution. Level two is supposedly for lower custody prisoners who have earned the right to more or better programming. You will have a hard time convincing the men in Solano's level two facility of that. Yard #3 has six buildings that house approximately 1,600 prisoners. The older buildings were designed to hold 160 men. Today, there are 348 men crammed into tiny spaces so small that the Humane Society would order it shut down if animals were living there. According to the law, the space would be inadequate for dogs. Full grown men are forced to sleep in "triple bunks" that are welded into spaces designed for a single bunk. Triple bunks are small beds stacked three high with barely enough room for a man to turn over while laying in them. They look like three coffins stacked one on the other with the sides removed. They don't triple bunk dogs! The buildings are filthy, covered with dirt and thick dust all over the ceiling, bird-droppings abound and putrid smells waft throughout the building. There is no perminant air-flow and summer temperatures rise to over 100? inside the buildings. There is nothing a prisoner can do to cool down. With 348 bodies stuffed into a space designed for 160, it's mind boggling how the convicts deal with these forced, deplorable conditions day in and day out. It takes a lot of courage. Building #13 on three yard has 18 toilets for 348 men. There are no urinals. It’s a men's prison. NO URINALS! Most days convicts have to wait in long lines to use one of the few toilets available. Mornings are the worst time. Some men have had to deficate into plastic or paper bags because they could not wait for one of the few toilets. Others have been forced to urinate into empty cans or plastic bottles because their bladders were aout to explode. Four small shower areas have a total of 15 shower heads in Building #13, not nearly enough for the hundreds of men who live there. Some men have to wait for hours most days in order to bathe. Recently, the prison's administration decided that an inadequate shower program wasn't bad enough so they had shower timers installed to shut the water off various times throughout the day. There is never enough time for everyone to shower. Some convicts are made to work in filthy kitchen areas and in the prison's laundry, were temperatures can rise to 120? during the summer, wait for hours to shower; that is if the timers are on. Other prisoners have to stand in the toilet stalls and take what is called a prison "bird-bath," using a cup or an empty bottle to pour water over their heads from several small sinks that line the wall of the bathroom. The gymnasium between yards #3 and #4 are no longer used for prisoner exercise. It now houses hundreds of men who are also stuffed into triple bunks. Like all housing units in Solano, the gymnasium is scortching hot in the summer. The ventilation is poor, mold and mildew grows throughout the toilet and shower area and the noise can be deafening. There are plans to install additional beds in the gymnasium. Solano's medical situation is as bad as it gets. It is out-of-control with negligence and incompetence. The prisons "Satellite Clinic” is located in a small alley between yards #3 and #4. Just outside the clinic door, literally a few short feet away, are the kitchen's garbage dumpsters that are thick with flies and foul smells that permeate the inside of the clinic. At various times, a waste disposal truck parks just outside the clinic door and sucks up all the filth and greese that collects in traps under the asphalt. Prisoners have to wait for hours for their pain, psychiatric and insulin medications. Those with open wounds requiring dressing changes wait up to five or six hours, standing with crutches in some cases, before they are attended to. Water from a hose out back of the kitchen frequently floods the small ground-level waiting room in the Satellite Clinic. The hose is used to wash garbage from around the dumpsters and flows into the clinic from under the door. Foul smelling water is squeegied and mopped up by a clinic porter then everyone acts as if nothing had just occurred. Many of the so called "medical staff" in Solano's Satellite Clinic are uncompassionate and incompetent. There is (what they suggest) a triage system to evaluate and determine the seriousness of a prisoners complaint. If your blood pressure "seems normal" and your temperature "seems OK," your name will be shuffled into a large stack of medical issues from other prisoners who have yet to be seen by a doctor. Men with oozing infections, shortness of breath, swollen necks, obvious severe skin rashes, abscessed teeth, liver problems, and the list goes on, all have to wait exorbitant amounts of time before being seen by one of Solano's doctors, if they are lucky. Many of the complaints regarding the medical process at Solano are not with the doctors personally, they are about the incompetent MTA's (medical technician assistants), many of the nurses and other prison medical workers who either do not do their jobs or ignore doctor's orders and medical policies. Federal court appointee Robert Sillen stated that, "The medical system," which previously had been criticized by federal court officials as so depraved, ". . .inmates were needlessly dying," was in worse shape than first described and that his remedies would have to be more dramatic and far reaching than previously envisioned. Take for example the recent case of a prisoner at Solano who was given the run around after complaining about an abscessed tooth. He was neglected by the medical department to the point that he died shortly after being rushed to an outside hospital for treatment he needed months before his death. Consider the case of another young man who had tuberculosis (TB) when he arrived at Solano. He was ordered to work in the prison's kitchen around food that was being served to thousands of other prisoners. The medical department failed to do their job allowing this man to be placed in the general population subjecting others to his illness. He too was rushed to an outside hospital but not before it was too late. He also died. "There is no way we're going to get the constitutional medical care standards with current overcrowding," said Sillen. "If the state wants its system back, it will eventually have to address that." Schwarzenegger called a special legislative session to address the state's inhumane, grossly overcrowded prison system. The governor argued that severe overcrowding could lead to a federal takeover of the entire system and the early release of "thousands" of prisoners. Gubernatorial spokesman Adam Mendelsohn has said, "Under no circumstances, is releasing felons before their time is served an appropriate method to address overcrowding." Sillen said health care delivery in prison is without a doubt hampered by overcrowding but that it is "premature" for him to talk of drastic changes that confront political opposition like early release. Sillen's report was described as "ominous" by one state senator for its implication that Sillen might demand major changes to state government. In another scathing report by John Hagar, a special investigator working for Federal District Court Judge Thelton Henderson with two prison related cases before him, Hagar said, "after two years of the most productive prison reform in state history, Schwarzenegger had begun retreating with his Chief of Staff, Susan Kennedy, and another top aide granting the guard's union, the CCPOA, a disturbing level of clout over prison management decissions." Hagar complained that the Schwarzenegger administration is cozier with the powerful CCPOA than with the governor's appointed prison director. These reports describe, "a web of incompatence in the department [of corrections] that has simply chosen to ignore it's problems," said Senator Gloria Romero, D—Los Angeles. Solano State Prison could very well be the poster child for severe overcrowding and atrocious medical services for prisoners, but truth be known, there are other prisons throughout California that are certain to explode if relief does not come soon. Writer's Note: On May 9, 2006, I was rushed via ambulance to Queen of the Valley Hospital in Napa California from Solano State Prison in Vacaville. I had a serious bacterial infection throughout my entire body that was killing me according to a doctor in Napa. After weeks of Solano's medical staff repeatedly telling me that there was "nothing wrong" with me, and that I would be placed on a waiting list to see a doctor, I almost died. While I was being told by these geniuses I was "fine" and "OK,' I had a bacterial poison festering in my body. Even after numerous requests by me to be examined, not one medical staff looked at me. If they took a simple blood test early on, oral antibiotics would have done the job; this according to a doctor at Queen of the Valley Hospital. After many tests in Napa it is still a mystery how I became infected. Days before I was admitted to Queen of the Valley Hospital, I was running a very high temperature. I could not walk or use my right arm. My shoulder swelled to twice it's size and my left foot looked like a football with toes. The infection was trying to burst it's way out of my body. I had to piss in a bottle because I could not make the fifteen feet to the toilet that probably had someone sitting on it. The day before I was taken by ambulance, several of the guards made numerous attempts by phone to inform the medical department my situation was fast becoming "very serious." Ultimately, the only way I was able to get some attention from medical, was one of the guards pushed his personal alarm and called in a "medical code." This is the absolute last thing that can be done by custody staff (the guards) in order to make the medical department do it's job. After the alarm was sounded, I was carried by a half dozen convicts
on a stretcher from the housing unit and placed on a small, medical transportation
vehicle and brought to the infamous
I laid on a gourny inside the clinic for many hours in severe pain. Later that evening, and after months of being shuffled around with no one in the medical department paying attention to my problem, I was seen by a doctor; Dr. Noriega. After examining me for a few minutes, Dr. Noriega told me that I was being transferred ‘immediately" to a hospital outside the prison. Dr. Noriega told me that my situation was "bad" and that I will be taken care of at Queen of the Valley. I spent six weeks and a day at Queen of the Valley. It was determined by doctors there that the three surgeries 11 had were required to drain the poison from my body. Massive amounts of a powerful antibiotic were pumped into me for over a month. I could not walk and my right arm was pretty much useless. I spent four weeks in the Acute Rehabilitation Unit (ARU) going through a very intense and painful rehabilitative process. I had to literally learn to walk all over again, this, with the help of many physical and occupational therapists. It took four weeks of therapy to regain some use back in my right arm. I could not move my arm without experiencing pain throughout my entire shoulder, neck and upper back areas. It took six weeks, costing tens of thousands of taxpayers dollars to clean up the incompetence of Solano State Prison's medical department. It should never have came to that. Other medical cases similar to mine, many more serious, are going on right now throughout the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. It's frightening to think that I could have been a statistic on Solano's now infamous body count list due to poor medical conditions behind these walls. It is absolutely criminal that there are still many men suffering and fighting for their lives, struggling to get the proper, and in many cases, basic medical care they desperately need. We can only hope that Mr. Silien does the right thing as soon as possible. We prisoners need help and we need it fast before more men needlessly die. ### Boston Woodard is a prisoner/journalist who has written for the San Quentin News and the Soledad Star, and edited The Communicator. The Department of Corrections has pulled the plug on all three publications. http://www.fresnoalliance.com/home
Editorial: Look back to find solutions for state's prisons
Published 12:01 am PDT Sunday, August 6, 2006 Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger says California's prison system faces an overcrowding emergency. He wants to build two new prisons (9,000 beds) and add 15,000 new beds at existing prisons. This is a bunch of hooey. California's prisons have plenty of space for the state's 80,000 to 85,000 violent, repeat offenders. The prisons are overcrowded with 170,000 prisoners because lower-level, nonviolent offenders increasingly have been shifted to state prisons. That is the issue that Schwarzenegger and the Legislature should address in the Aug. 7 special session. To solve this problem, California needs to rediscover and reinvest in options for handling low-level, nonviolent offenders. Here are just a few options for immediate relief: Conservation camps Currently, 4,400 nonviolent offenders do time in 39 conservation camps, working on 196 fire crews. In 1992, the state had nearly 6,000 offenders in 49 camps, working on 292 fire crews. The state needs more trained fire and emergency crews than ever. Expanding prison conservation camps would help meet that need and free up 2,000 to 4,000 state prison beds. Community facilities The state contracts with counties, cities and private companies to house 5,300 low-level offenders with terms of 18 months or less. These dormitory-style facilities of 200 to 500 people offer training to prepare inmates for life on the outside. In 2002, these facilities housed 7,600 offenders. The state could free up 3,000 to 10,000 beds by expanding these programs. Schwarzenegger has proposed 4,500 community corrections beds for women and 4,000 for men. But he has added a fatal flaw: requiring that these facilities be staffed with state prison guards, which makes these facilities much more expensive and undercuts their training efforts. Legislators should reject that new requirement. Older prisoners The state has 8,500 prisoners who are 55 and older. The state should evaluate each one and place low-risk, frail prisoners in public nursing homes or on house arrest with electronic monitoring. This could free up 1,000 or more beds. Re-entry Centers In 2003, the state contracted with local public and private providers
for 32 re-entry centers, which housed 1,045 nonviolent offenders in their
last 120 days in prison. In 2004, the program was changed and then abruptly
ended. In 2005, the state put out bids for 17 re-entry centers for 745
offenders. Expanding this program could free up 1,000 to 5,000 beds.
These short-term options could be implemented immediately. That would help the state to get prison crowding and prison budgets under control. The alternative -- building more state prison cells and filling them with more and more low-risk offenders -- will simply make the existing crisis even worse. About the editorial:
http://www.modbee.com/opinion/story/12553734p-13264971c.html Just building more prisons not best solution for state
The governor wants to launch a new era of prison construction, with two new prisons (9,000 beds) and 15,000 new spaces at existing prisons. Listening to the sound and fury from prison-building advocates, you might conclude that California's crime rates were going up or that the state was imprisoning too few people. Neither is true. Crime rates — measured in terms of crimes per 100,000 population — have been dropping since the early 1990s. Today, violent crimes are at 1973 levels, property crimes at 1967 levels. Some of that decline is because of locking up violent, habitual criminals for more time. But the bulk of it is because of other factors: a greater commitment to community policing, a shrinking population in the crime-prone age group of 18- to 29-year-olds and a strong economy. The governor and others claim we need new prisons because California's population is increasing. But they're looking at the wrong numbers. What they need to look at is California's state-prison-incarceration rates. In the early 1970s, the incarceration rate was about 100 per 100,000 population. Today, California has about 170,000 people in state prisons — an incarceration rate of more than 450 per 100,000. Large-scale imprisonment comes at a high cost. The corrections budget took 4.3 percent of the state's general fund in 1985-1986. Last year, Corrections consumed 8.8 percent of the general fund. Soon, if our policies don't change, the corrections budget will be 10 percent or more, crowding out higher education and other important areas. The rate is up largely because California increasingly has shifted low-level, nonviolent offenders to the state-prison system, which was designed for violent, habitual criminals. We are filling state prisons with check forgers, perjurers and petty thieves. If Gov. Schwarzenegger and lawmakers want to alleviate prison overcrowding, control spending on prisons and avert a takeover by the federal courts, they should shift their attention away from building more prisons. Only about half of the current state-prison inmates are classified as LevelIII or IV prisoners, the levels requiring high and maximum security prisons. The rest, the LevelI and II offenders, are in prison for property and drug-related crimes or parole violations. Most have terms of 18 months or less. Putting these prisoners in higher security state prisons is like a hospital putting all patients in intensive care. It is expensive and unnecessary. The shift of low-level offenders to state prisons has happened over time, with little attention. Lawmakers and the governor should move in two directions: Restore the local role: While the state built 22 prisons in 21 years, the locals have been starved for resources for jail space and community punishment programs. They face critical shortages, which means that more and more low-level offenders end up in state prisons — and state spending on prisons continues to grow unchecked. The state should build 30,000 to 40,000 county jail beds during the next decade, and the state should fund construction and operating costs for these jails. Stable financing would have to be worked out with local officials. Change sentencing. Instead of state prison, why not have those convicted of certain crimes — for example, perjury, bookmaking, bribery, drug possession and receiving stolen property — serve their time at the local level? They could be in local jails or work camps, day reporting centers, electronic home detention or restitution centers. To provide some immediate relief, there are several options for handling low-level, nonviolent offenders. Here are a few: Conservation camps: The state has reduced the number of nonviolent offenders doing time in conservation camps and working on fire crews. Expanding prison conservation camps would help provide more fire crews and free up 2,000 to 4,000state prison beds. Community facilities: The state contracts with counties, cities and private companies to house 5,300 low-level offenders with terms of 18 months or less. The state could free up 3,000 to 10,000 beds by expanding these programs — and not having them staffed by state prison guards. Older prisoners: The state should evaluate all of the 8,500 prisoners who are 55 and older and place low-risk, frail prisoners in public nursing homes or on house arrest with electronic monitoring. This could free up 1,000 or more beds. Building more prisons will pile up huge long-term costs for state taxpayers.
If you add 10,000 new union prison guards — not just at new state prisons,
but at community corrections facilities and new miniprisons — you have
to figure costs of $100,000 a year each (salary, benefits and overtime).
That alone adds $1 billion a year in new costs to already out-of-control
prison budgets. It's not the right long-term solution for California.
Posted on 08/06/06
Article Launched: 7/23/2006 07:42 AM
California's prison crisis: It's taken us decades to get this bad By Steve Huddleston
Since its inception more than 50 years ago, Vacaville's first state
prison, like the one added right next door a decade ago, has kept a low
profile. Even when it shows up in a Johnny Depp movie, "Blow," it never
really comes center stage.
And in Vacaville, they do. Most of the time. But not today. The prisons are already overcrowded, and the new chief of the penal system says he won't have any place to put more prisoners after next June. Cells were filled long ago. Now the gymnasiums, day rooms and corridors are bulging. In one joint last month, 42 convicts camped out on the outdoor basketball courts. On Thursday, the acting director of prisons uttered the "R-word" - riots. That gets everyone's attention. So by association, Vacaville's prisons are tangentially in the headlines. When you think of California prisons, you think of The Q, or Soledad or Pelican Bay. Charlie Manson is long gone from CMF and out of the news. And that helps. But with 172,000 inmates overflowing from prisons built to hold 100,000, and with an administrator saying conditions are ripe for riots, people are beginning to pay heed. Of course, the problems of our prisons are a result of us not paying attention for so long, even though some lawmakers, all employee unions and a couple of inmate-rights groups have been sounding the warning siren for a long time. Acting Corrections Secretary James Tilton told lawmakers at a Thursday hearing that the state is in a crisis situation. Well, duh. And let's not lay the blame on the folks who work in our prisons because the buck stops at the top, which is why no one lasts very long in the top job at headquarters. The state's adult prisons are designed only to hold about 100,000 and the last 3,000 of an estimated 16,000 makeshift bed spaces will be used up in months, Mr. Tilton said, leaving the state in a crisis situation. He believes crowding has led to "an unsafe prison system that could suffer riots, mass escapes or hostage-taking that has been seen in other states with similar conditions." And, he warns, there are too few correctional officers and programs to keep inmates occupied and to prepare them for release. The men and women who walk the beat inside agree. Chuck Alexander, executive vice president of the 30,000-member California Correctional Peace Officers Association, said the prison system is "on the brink of a catastrophic failure." And that doesn't come overnight. It takes years - no, decades - for a system to fall into such disarray. The result is an unsafe place to work. And remember, those are our family, friends and neighbors who fill those jobs. So what to do? Like it or not, we are going to build new prisons. We want thugs and killers off the streets. We want to lock up burglars and dopers for longer periods. We want "three strikes." Maybe, just maybe, when we see the price tag, we'll think a bit differently. But for now, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger suggests spending $3.6 billion for new institutions and for more beds in existing ones, portending a prison system holding 198,000, a figure approaching the population of Solano County. Give the governor credit, he also wants "re-entry" facilities for job-training, mental health therapy and other services aimed at helping those capable of rehabilitation to return to society. But those programs are not systemic changes. Killers and rapists need to be locked up, probably for life. As for the rest, we need to identify who can rehabilitate and create a path for their "re-entry." One way or the other, they will re-enter the free world. Either courts will order their release because of inhumane overcrowding, or they will finish their term without being rehabilitated. Or worse, any or all could escape amid a riot. Californians would rather ignore or forget we have places we hide the worst among us. But look where that's gotten us. The author is publisher of The Reporter. E-mail: hud@thereporter.com .
Slammer time Why rush to build more prisons when other options cost less?
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has usefully acknowledged the catastrophic problem of prison crowding and has called the Legislature into a special session Aug. 7 to deal with it. No one questions that our prisons -- now housing more than 170,000 inmates and operating at 200 percent of capacity -- threaten both inmates and staff. But the governor's main proposal to solve this problem -- an expensive scheme of prison construction -- exhibits a simplistic logic. Very simplistic. The state has no choice but to resolve the crowding problem. The Eighth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution forbids prison conditions that constitute "cruel and unusual punishment," and courts can use their injunctive powers to take over institutions that violate that standard. Right now, the state's prison health-care system and its major high-security prison are being run not by the state but by a federal judge. The last big step, a federal-court takeover of the whole adult prison system, remains a looming possibility. So if the state can't find the political will to solve the crowding problem, an official who by his legal authority is indifferent to the political self-interest of California officials or to the California electorate's budgeting preferences will do so for us. The cost of Schwarzenegger's proposed two major new prisons and expansion of others would be several billion dollars. As usual, the cost would be handled by floating bond issues -- borrowing money from investors to be paid back with interest. This would be justified only if the building plan was the best way to solve the problem. But it isn't even close. California voters should reject the platitudes they are now getting from Sacramento and demand that the Legislature's special session lead to deliberate analysis of the crowding problem before we go billions further into debt. We really don't know how our prison expenditures are working to achieve public safety in the first place. Our dysfunctional system has no coherent plan for translating expenditures into the proper incapacitation of truly dangerous inmates, the realistic rehabilitation of potentially nondangerous inmates and the release, at least from state prisons, of prisoners who exhibit no risk of harm to public safety whatsoever. The problem has many sources, but here are the key ones. Before 1970, California had a pretty extreme version of the old, unstructured and indeterminate sentencing system. California responded to this unsatisfactory system in 1976 with the aptly-named Determinate Sentencing Law -- indeed, one of the most extremely determinate sentencing systems in the country. For more than three decades now, state judges have been required to impose fairly high and rigid sentences regardless of the facts of individual offenders' backgrounds and proclivities, according to a complex array of formulaic sentencing factors set by the Legislature. For the great majority of crimes, old-style parole was abolished -- well, sort of. Now, anyone completing a term in state prison is automatically placed on parole, most for a term of one to three years based again on a fairly fixed formula. The result of this new structure has been a tragic misuse of state prisons. The state prisons are supposed to house the more dangerous prisoners who require longer-term incarceration, while county jails or alternative facilities handle the lesser threats. But the prisons are overstuffed with the wrong people. For one thing, a shortage of beds at the county jail level has forced prisons to take on inmates who are sentenced to less than the traditional one-year threshold for state imprisonment. For another, the severity of California's sentences probably puts a lot of nonviolent people into state prison for a long and costly time, especially drug offenders. In this regard, California is a lot like other states. But it's another factor that makes California unique among the states: its recidivism rate. To understand that we have to return to the parole system. Virtually every California prisoner is released to parole. Few get very much help in their last months in prison in preparing for the challenges of parole, because re-entry, educational and drug-rehabilitation programs in state prisons are scandalously underfunded or nonexistent. But the sentencing law dictates that most everyone gets out, ready or not. And the local re-entry programs for parolees also are drastically underfunded at best, and miserably uncoordinated with each other and with the state system. So large numbers of parolees are doomed to get in trouble again and return. Of the approximately 115,000 inmates released annually, about 70 percent of them are back behind bars within 36 months -- nearly twice the national average. Worse yet, about 10 percent of these prisoners will return six or more times over a seven-year period, according to one study. No other state reports such a "churn" rate. In many cases, the parole violations are serious crimes that merit new convictions, but the system finds it cheaper and easier to characterize them as parole violations. The maximum sentence for a parole violation, even if it involves a very serious crime, is 12 months, with an average sentence served of three to four months. On the other hand, some parole violations are very technical violations of somewhat arbitrary parole conditions. A flunked drug test or a series of absences at a required program might be cause for greater supervision or discipline, but too often under the current system it becomes a violation calling for reincarceration. These nonserious technical violators -- about 20,000 returnees each year -- are ideal candidates for locally based programs, and sending them back to big, remote state prisons uselessly exacerbates prison crowding. Other states have learned how to rationally sort inmates, placing as few as 40 percent of their released inmates on parole without incurring any increase in serious crime recidivism. Unless we have some nonpolitical, rational governmental mechanisms for figuring out which prisoners need to go where -- and to make rational demographic projections about future crime rates -- it's useless to just declare that somewhere in the state we should have X thousand new beds. We are likely to end up building prisons of the wrong size and the wrong kind, in the wrong places, and to send the wrong prisoners to them. Moreover, it would be many years before beds in new prisons would be available, so floating the bond issues would do nothing about current crowding. Besides new prisons, Schwarzenegger also proposes to shift 4,500 female prisoners to alternative facilities. This is a fine idea, but the number of women affected is too small to make a big difference in crowding. If low-risk women are good candidates for nonprison punishment, then the logic extends to other groups -- the elderly and even younger men if they pose little risk of future crime. The governor also suggests new local re-entry centers to help disperse inmates out of prison. These are clearly necessary, but must be sensibly designed and operated -- small and close to prisoners' homes, with job training, family unification and other forms of re-entry planning. They need to be transitional "decompression chambers," especially for those who have served longer than five years. Good re-entry facilities require a smart matching of subgroups of prisoners to specific re-entry goals and functions. But nothing in the governor's vague proposals suggests any planning of this sort. We fear that his proposed new centers might become localized versions of state prisons under state-prison-like control. Our leaders must find the political will and wisdom to do several things: • Reappraise our determinate sentencing laws to see if some midcourse corrections, such as some additional flexibility at trial sentencing, are necessary. • Devise a rational set of parole term laws and flexible parole condition guidelines by which we would reallocate the resources of our parole officers and re-entry facilities to avoid wasting them on clearly nondangerous parolees and concentrating supervision on the truly risky ones. • Create some way to base future prison construction decisions on solid criminological data about crime and population rates and objective projections of state budgetary resources. Other states have done this remarkably well -- indeed, states many Californians would be embarrassed to acknowledge as more enlightened on criminal justice issues than we are. Virginia and North Carolina have proved exemplary in recent years in creating sentencing commissions, composed of representatives of the different parts of state government and criminological experts, to devise more rational sentencing and parole guidelines, tempered by budgetary realism. They have done so while enjoying at least as great a crime rate drop as the rest of the United States in the past decade. These states have succeeded because somehow their politicians have found a way to avoid the nuclear-arms-race-like ratcheting up of sentences to appear tough on crime to the voters. But the officials in these states also have managed to make the economics of criminal justice part of the civic discourse among officials, the media and voters. None of this is happening in California. After a promising start two years ago, the governor, weakening under incessant attack from the Legislature and the prison guards' union, seems to have lost the will to subject the corrections system to rational policy analysis. And the response to his new proposal from his new Democratic rival, Phil Angelides, has been loud but amounts to vacuous hot air. It's now a cliché that modern politicians are terrified of appearing soft on crime. But we've reached the point where politicians are too bizarrely worried about the soft-on-crime label even to suggest that some reform in the corrections system -- or even rational analysis of it -- is necessary. Apparently they fear that any suggestion that some criminals might be imprisoned unnecessarily or for too long risks political attack, even when the suggestion is part of a plan to increase the sentences for the truly dangerous inmates who threaten public safety. So as we approach this special session, the public should demand that
in the area of criminal justice and corrections, "rational policymaking
in California" must cease to be an oxymoron.
About the writer:
Posted on Thu, Jul. 20, 2006
California will run out of prison space next year, official says DON THOMPSON
SACRAMENTO - California will run out of even makeshift prison beds in less than a year unless the state takes action, the state's corrections chief said Thursday, warning also of an increased danger of riots. California's record-high population of 172,000 inmates is spilling into gymnasiums and day rooms, Acting Corrections Secretary James Tilton told lawmakers at a hearing. The state's adult prisons are designed only to hold about 100,000 and the last 3,000 of an estimated 16,000 makeshift bed spaces will be used up in months, Tilton said, leaving the state in a crisis situation. "I will be out of beds entirely by June of '07," he told the Assembly Select Committee on Prison Construction and Operations. "We're out looking for every bed we can find." Tilton said 42 inmates at a Chino prison spent a night last month sleeping on an outdoor basketball court because there were no cells. His warning comes as Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger will attempt to persuade lawmakers to ease prison crowding during a special session next month, two months before the governor stands for re-election. Schwarzenegger has proposed a $3.6 billion plan that calls for building two new prisons and expanding existing prisons, adding 51,000 prison beds over the next 15 years as the prison population reaches a projected 198,000. Inmates who are about to be released would be sent to "re-entry" facilities for job-training, mental health therapy and other services aimed at helping them return to society, and another 5,000 jailed illegal immigrants would be sent to other states. Schwarzenegger has ruled out changing the state's tough sentencing laws, which critics cite as the underlying cause of the crowding. But he has warned that crowding could one day lead a federal judge to order inmates freed before they complete their sentences. Tilton told legislators the crowding has led to an unsafe prison system that could suffer riots, mass escapes or hostage-taking that has been seen in other states with similar conditions. Besides crowding, he said there are too few prison guards and programs to keep inmates occupied and prepare them for release. "There are symptoms out there already," Tilton said. "The conditions are there waiting for that spark." Chuck Alexander, executive vice president of the 30,000-member California Correctional Peace Officers Association, said the prison system is "on the brink of a catastrophic failure." Tilton and Alexander had a sympathetic audience for the first legislative hearing since Schwarzenegger proposed his prison plan. The committee is chaired by Assemblyman Rudy Bermudez, D-Norwalk, a member of the guards' union and co-chair of Schwarzenegger's sex offender task force. Matthew Gray, a lobbyist for Taxpayers for Improving Public Safety and the California Prisoners Union, said lawmakers instead should be dealing with the real cause of prison overcrowding, which he said is California's long prison sentences. Instead of building more prisons, the state should spend money on new hospitals to improve horrible inmate medical care, as a federal court receiver appointed to improve inmate care concluded last week, Gray said. Also Thursday, the prison system's inspector general, Matthew Cate, said the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation mismanaged $12 million in taxpayer money in the last six years by failing to control and account for leave time used by prison union leaders. Union members donate vacation time to be used by their leaders for union business. The donated time compensates the state for days lost when the union leaders aren't working at their state jobs. The state controller found the guards' union overcharged the state $1.1 million over the five years, but Cate said the department's records are so poor that the loss can't be verified. John Hagar, a federal court-appointed special master who oversees employee discipline, last week accused the guards' union leaders of failing to report when they took time off for holidays, vacation time and sick leave, costing the state thousands of dollars in extra pay and boosting the lump sums they would receive at retirement for unused vacation. But Cate blamed the department for failing to require union leaders to account for that time and failing to challenge alleged union violations until last year, four years into the contract that expired July 1. Tilton has outlined a 10-step plan the department is taking to improve record-keeping.
http://www.recordnet.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060711/NEWS01/607110317 Article published Jul 11, 2006 Prison plan has few fans
SACRAMENTO - Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's administration unveiled draft legislation Monday to house male inmates in a mothballed women's prison in Stockton, four days after Democratic gubernatorial candidate Phil Angelides had proposed a similar plan. San Joaquin County officials are upset, and local lawmakers have vowed to block the proposal as the Legislature heads into a special session to deal with California's prison crisis next month. At issue is the Northern California Women's Facility, an 800-bed prison
just outside the city limits that closed in 2003 because of budget cuts.
Earlier this year, the Department of Corrections reopened the facility
to train prison guards.
Prisons chief James Tilton said Monday that with such overcrowding, using the Stockton prison as a training facility is a "waste of space." He said he'd like to house short-term inmates there. Just last week, a Corrections Department spokeswoman had said Schwarzenegger's prison-reform plan would not affect the Stockton prisons. Tilton said he's aware the community isn't keen on the idea. "It's vacant beds," he said. "It's my responsibility to put options on the table." Angelides wants to house male inmates in both the women's prison and the Karl Holton Youth Correctional Facility, a juvenile jail that also closed because of budget cuts in 2003. At least four of the six members of the San Joaquin County delegation in the Legislature oppose the plan, as does Stockton Mayor Ed Chavez. Assemblyman Guy Houston, a Dublin Republican whose district includes part of Stockton, did not have an opinion on the proposal yet, and state Sen. Charles Poochigian, a Fresno Republican whose district includes part of San Joaquin County, could not be reached Monday. "I'm real disappointed in both the governor and Phil Angelides, who ought to realize that you can't build your way out of this problem," said state Sen. Michael Machado, D-Linden. Machado said the real issue with the state prison system is that 70 percent of California inmates commit another crime after they're released - the worst recidivism rate in the nation. Tilton said Monday that Schwarzenegger's proposal addresses recidivism, noting that reducing overcrowding will free space now filled with bunk beds so it can be used instead for rehabilitation. Assemblyman Greg Aghazarian, R-Stockton, said he'll fight proposals to put men into the women's prison: "I don't want more male offenders here, although I could talk with someone about housing low-risk women." Added Assemblyman Alan Nakanishi, R-Lodi: "Prisons bring jobs, but they should go to a location where the community wants it. I don't think they should force Stockton to reopen the prison." Assemblywoman Barbara Matthews, D-Tracy, cited a 1982 law that prohibits the state from housing men at the Northern California Women's Facility. Tilton said he would need the Legislature to change that law to put his plan into place. State officials said they had no immediate plans for the Karl Holton facility. It is unclear how much it would cost to upgrade the women's prison to meet security standards needed to hold men. But an aborted move to do so shortly after both facilities closed in 2003 would have cost $11million, according to budget documents from the time. California Correctional Peace Officers Association lobbyist Lance Corcoran said Monday that he expected the cost to be triple that, given the prison's dilapidated plumbing, security fencing and electrical wiring. Neither Schwarzenegger nor Angelides said he is ready to estimate properly the cost of overhauling the entire state prison system, but state officials and outside analysts say it could run into the tens of billions. Contact Capitol Bureau Chief Hank Shaw at (916) 441-4078 or sacto@recordnet.com. Visit his blog at http://online.recordnet.com/blogs/blogs.php
Governor wants some inmates sent out of state
(07-08) 04:00 PDT Sacramento -- Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, as part of a plan costing at least $3.6 billion to alleviate overcrowding in California prisons, is proposing to free up space by contracting with other states to house 5,000 incarcerated illegal immigrants. A detailed outline of the governor's prison agenda, released Friday, also says the corrections department needs to add more than 51,000 beds -- the equivalent of at least 10 large prisons -- during the next 15 years and offers new insights into the stresses put on a 33-prison system that is operating at nearly 200 percent capacity. One new proposal is a stark indicator of how dire the state's overcrowding problem has become: The administration wants to limit the number of times inmates can flush toilets as a way to ease environmental problems caused by overtaxed wastewater systems. Officials are even considering reducing the amount of drinking water in prisons because of shortages of fresh water. The report provides new details of ideas Schwarzenegger mentioned last week when he called for a special legislative session to deal with overcrowding, puts a price tag on some of the proposals and includes several short-term fixes administration officials believe can be made in the next year. The state's dysfunctional prison system is increasingly becoming a political problem for the governor, who is running for re-election this year. Schwarzenegger's Democratic opponent, state Treasurer Phil Angelides, held his second news conference in two days on Friday focusing on the prison system. Angelides compared the corrections department to Enron Corp., saying that if he were elected, fixing the system would be akin to a chief executive taking over a bankrupt company. One part of the governor's plan would deal with the fact that California houses in its prisons as many as 20,000 illegal immigrants who have been convicted of crimes. Schwarzenegger officials said Friday that states like Louisiana, Texas, Michigan and Indiana have available prison beds and that they will seek contracts with those states to send inmates there. The administration would have to change a state law requiring an inmate's permission to be sent out of state, something officials said they would seek during the special legislative session that reconvenes next month. The new legislation would allow the state to ship illegal immigrants out of state without their approval. Schwarzenegger has been demanding since he took office that the federal government pay the state to house the immigrants, but so far he has been unable to persuade President Bush to provide the money. Among the proposals are other ways to alleviate overcrowding, such as building two new prisons, adding on to existing prisons and opening scores of what the administration calls mini-prisons to house inmates who are about to be released. Prisoners about to be paroled would be sent to so-called re-entry facilities, located mostly in urban areas where most inmates come from, for job-training, mental health therapy and other services aimed at helping them return to society and stay out of trouble. The governor wants "to keep people who leave prison from returning -- because they've created new victims -- by changing some of the fundamental problems in the prison system,'' said Margita Thompson, the governor's press secretary. Thompson stressed that the governor's plan calls for more than just building prisons, noting that the re-entry facilities and new programs for female prisoners would be major changes for the department. The report does not state the total cost of Schwarzenegger's proposals. But it does note that repairs to water systems, building two new prisons and adding on to other prisons would cost $3.6 billion. Schwarzenegger also wants to send as many as 1,000 inmates to a new facility in Coalinga (Fresno County) built to house mentally ill inmates. The facility is virtually empty due to a dispute between the state's Department of Mental Health and the Department of Corrections over security issues. While an administration official said they would try to send inmates with mental health problems there, some inmates could be sent there simply for housing purposes. That proposal met with resistance from one inmate advocate who has been involved in a long-running lawsuit with the prison system over mental health care for inmates. "We've spent years litigating to get mentally ill inmates into those
beds, and now they want to fill them up with other inmates? I don't think
that plan gets off first base,'' said Don Specter, executive director of
the Prison Law Office.
Proposals for state's prisons
-- Immigrants Send 5,000 illegal immigrants convicted of crimes to prisons in other states. -- Housing Add prison space over 15 years capable of housing 51,000 inmates. -- Water To reduce the amount of polluting wastewater discharged from prisons, limit the number of times inmates can flush toilets. E-mail Mark Martin at markmartin@sfchronicle.com .
From the Los Angeles Times GEORGE SKELTON / CAPITOL JOURNAL Gov.'s Prison Plan Has Look of Political Move
July 3, 2006 Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger raised the serious issue of California's dangerously overcrowded prisons last week. But his timing left many lawmakers rolling their eyes and not taking him seriously. The whole episode smelled a lot like blatant election-year politics, too cute by half. For starters, he called a special legislative session on the prison system five days after a federal court investigator issued a scathing report that accused the governor of backpedaling on prison reform. Schwarzenegger's move smacked of his strategists concocting a "rapid response," as it is called in the political biz. His pronouncement — at a conference of district attorneys in Newport Beach — kicked off a weeklong series of anti-crime campaigning. It was the week to show that Schwarzenegger is "putting the safety of all Californians first," his campaign spinners told reporters. Schwarzenegger called the special session knowing that the Legislature, within days, would be leaving town for a four-week recess. After he issued his proclamation, the lawmakers yawned and added a fifth week to their vacation, departing Friday. But don't blame the legislators. Schwarzenegger didn't give them any bills to consider. He offered only concepts: Build two new prisons. Develop community "re-entry facilities" where soon-to-be-released male inmates can get counseling. Place 4,500 nonviolent women in hometown facilities a few months before they're freed. Streamline contracting, especially for construction. That's pretty much it. No specifics. No prison sites. No reentry locales. No real cost estimates. The administration hopes to work on all that and present details to legislators when they reconvene Aug. 7 for four weeks. The governor's calling the special session got him headlines. But it won't expedite the process of legislating. The only benefit is that if any bills are passed, they'll become law 28 days earlier than normal. "This is Hollywood. This is staging," says Sen. Gloria Romero (D-Los Angeles), chairwoman of the Senate Select Committee on California's Correctional System. Last year, Romero was singing Schwarzenegger's praises after the pair negotiated what many hoped would be the first major step toward reforming a prison system that had been rocked by federal investigations, prisoner abuse, a guards' "code of silence," severe overcrowding and a federal judge's threat to place the institutions in receivership. Romero's legislation reorganized the department and added the word "rehabilitation" to its name. "It just went poof," the senator says of the reform effort. "He failed." That's pretty much what federal court Special Master John Hagar charged in his report. He also claimed that Schwarzenegger had given the politically potent guards union a "disturbing" amount of clout over prison policy — and that the governor's new chief of staff, Democrat Susan Kennedy, had demoralized corrections officials by conspiring with union leaders. Answering that charge last week, Schwarzenegger told reporters: "We cannot have prison reform without working with the prison unions. They're not calling any shots. I call the shots. Susan Kennedy doesn't call the shots. I call the shots." Credit Kennedy with reaching out to several public employee unions that Schwarzenegger had alienated last year. They're almost back on speaking terms with the governor. Chuck Alexander, vice president of the 30,000-member guards union, says of Schwarzenegger's prison agenda: "My gut reaction is that it's probably not enough and may be too late. But it's a step in the right direction. We've got to do something. We're severely overcrowded, significantly understaffed and we have a real fear we're going to lose control of one of these places." They fear a riot with hostage-taking. And that's no doubt another reason Schwarzenegger called the special legislative session: in an effort to show voters that he's on top of the situation before some prison does explode. Inmates are stacked virtually like cordwood in some prisons — 16,000 sleeping in gyms, hallways and even outside. There's triple-bunking. That means scarce room for rehabilitation, education, exercise and drug treatment. It leads to a 70% recidivism rate, highest in the nation. In all, 171,000 inmates are stashed in lockups designed for about 100,000. There also are 3,000 guard vacancies. Schwarzenegger's solution is based on bricks and mortar. Democrats seek reduced sentences; "not on my watch," the governor says. Both sides want more rehabilitation. Gubernatorial aides insist the real purpose of the special session is to shine the public spotlight and focus the legislators' attention on prisons. They characterize it as a last resort, pointing out that Schwarzenegger in January proposed building new lockups as part of his infrastructure bond plan, but got shot down by legislators. The public wasn't very keen about spending more money on prisons either, according to polls. The governor attempted to get budget money for shifting low-risk female inmates to hometown private facilities. But budget negotiators turned him down. Separate legislation to do the same thing was killed Wednesday by the Senate Public Safety Committee. That bill was sponsored by a Democrat, Assemblywoman Sally Lieber of Mountain View. She'll try again during the special session. "We ought to take the governor seriously that he wants to make progress on this issue," Lieber says, dismissing all the Capitol cynicism. "I think if it's a political thing, we ought to take advantage of it to make real change. I'm just thankful for anybody who's interested in working for reform." That gets back to the adage about good policy making good politics.
We're seeing the politics. We still need the policy particulars.
George Skelton writes Monday and Thursday. Reach him at george.skelton@latimes.com
http://www.whittierdailynews.com/opinions/ci_4005855 Article Display Date: July 3, 2006
More California prisons? Don't build them By Fred E. Foldvary
AS long as California's prison population keeps growing, the state has to provide more prison facilities. In his State of the State address, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger called for the construction of two new prisons to provide space for 83,000 new prisoners over the next 10 years. The governor declared, "We must keep the people safe. I say build it." The California Correctional Peace Officers Association (the prison guards' union) also advocates building two new prisons. Assembly Speaker Fabian Nu ez has initiated legislation (AB 2902) to issue bonds to pay for the expansion of California's prisons. These bonds would not require voter approval. The state's prisons are indeed crammed to overcapacity. The Department of Corrections has reported that the 33 state prisons are overcrowded by 188 percent. Some inmates have to sleep in hallways, gyms and classrooms. Overcrowding in prisons makes prisoners more frustrated, inducing greater violence. Prisoners join gangs for protection, and the gangs threaten the staff. Crowding also spreads disease. Already overburdened, the state's prison medical system was placed in federal receivership in 2005. California's spending for prisons this year will already be greater than $8billion to confine over 170,000 prisoners. State spending on prisons has zoomed by 65 percent during the past three years. With the state budget already in deep deficit, more bonds for more prisons will increase the state's interest payments, which eventually have to be paid from taxes. The alternative to an increase in this public expense is to reduce the prison population. One reason for the growth of the prison population has been the Three Strikes law and mandatory sentencing guidelines. Such rigid sentencing requirements imprison criminals whose third crime is not proportional to the punishment. The discretion of judges can be faulty, but rigidity is not an effective remedy, as it creates its own injustice and social costs. A reform of these sentencing rules would reduce the prison population. Also, as suggested by the prison guards' union, the state could have an early release for prisoners convicted of nonviolent crimes. Another way to reduce the prison population is to reform the parole system - to develop alternatives to prison for the thousands of parolees who violate conditions of parole, often for minor technical violations. These reforms would help, but they do not confront the fundamental problem with California's criminal law: It turns victimless acts into crimes. A marijuana grower and user who does not drive under the influence of mind-altering substances does not harm others. He or she is no more a threat to society than a person who legally consumes alcohol. Decriminalization would eliminate the expense of catching, trying and incarcerating drug makers and users and would also reduce thefts by addicts. Other victimless acts that have been criminalized by California state and local law include prostitution, gambling and nudity. In 2005, some women removed their tops in a political protest called "Breasts Not Bombs" in Sacramento. The California Highway Patrol warned that baring their breasts could result in their arrest and inclusion in the state's list of sex offenders. Officials at the Sacramento County District Attorney's office also pondered whether to list the women as sex offenders. The D.A. did not file charges, but the threat to do so puts women in California at a risk of being put in prison and listed as sex offenders just for going topless even as a political protest. Does this law keep the public safe? Drug use, prostitution and gambling are crimes only because they offend the cultural values and beliefs of some persons. Yet there are many offensive acts and depictions, such as violence and T-shirts with crude messages, that are not crimes. In a truly free society, speech that is displeasing is nevertheless permitted, as the test of liberty is the tolerance of acts that some find disagreeable. If we truly want liberty, we have to tolerate activities that we may find disgusting but that do not involve force or fraud. The decriminalization of these acts would reduce the prison population and also free up police resources to focus on theft and violent crimes. The governor well said that we must keep the people safe. This goal can be accomplished better by criminalizing only acts that coercively harm others. Californians should tell their representatives, "Don't build them." Instead, release and don't arrest those who have committed only victimless acts. Fred E. Foldvary teaches economics at Santa Clara University, where he is also an associate of the Civil Society Institute. His main areas of research include public finance, public choice, social ethics, and the economics of real estate.
Article Last Updated: 07/01/2006 05:45:10 AM PDT Governor buys some time to handle prison system woes By Andy Furillo
SACRAMENTO — In calling for a special legislative session on prison
overcrowding, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has achieved a measure of political
cover in the event of worst-case correctional scenarios — riots, hostage-taking
and death.
Schwarzenegger's rival in the gubernatorial campaign, state Treasurer Phil Angelides, already has criticized him for presiding over a correctional "meltdown" in California, and the Democratic challenger is looking to make prisons an issue this fall against the Republican incumbent. At stake is an $8.7 billion California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation system with more than 171,000 adult inmates filling 33 prisons designed for about half that population. Overcrowding has become so bad that more than 16,000 convicts are now sleeping in gyms and dayrooms. Another 117,000 parolees are out on the streets, with 70 percent of them likely to return to prison within three years. "It is clear that California's prison system is overcrowded to the point of crisis," gubernatorial spokesman Adam Mendelsohn said. The special session, he added, is primarily aimed at heading off what the governor sees as a correctional doomsday. "Under no circumstances," Mendelsohn said, "is releasing felons before their time is served an appropriate method to address overcrowding." But the failure on the part of California prison officials to stem overcrowding "would justify a lawsuit that sought an order for the release of prisoners," said Steve Fama, an attorney with the Prison Law Office in San Rafael. Fama's group filed the lawsuits that put the federal courts in charge of inmate health care and left them monitoring use of force, internal discipline and labor issues. He wouldn't comment on whether his office is considering an overcrowding suit, except to say that the construction plan envisioned by Schwarzenegger won't keep up with the prison population boom and won't be enough to head off a legal action. "Building more prisons is something that will take years, and it's also something that has been tried in the very recent past and didn't work," Fama said. "It's like deciding that the cure for a morbidly obese patient is to buy him a bigger pair of pants." Last October, the system's director of adult institutions, John Dovey, wrote a memo saying that as a result of overcrowding, "an imminent and substantial threat to the public safety exists requiring immediate action." Schwarzenegger proposed building two new prisons in his State of the State speech in January. But when the Legislature refused to include them in the infrastructure package, the proposal fell dormant — until he revived it on Monday with his call for the special session. The governor is proposing the construction of two new prisons at a cost of $500 million each, with the funding coming from lease revenue bonds. Added interest on the bonds could put the ultimate price tag at nearly twice the prisons' $1 billion face value. Schwarzenegger also wants the Legislature to give him money for 4,500 community correctional beds for non-violent women and an untold number of "secure re-entry facilities" that could wind up housing tens of thousands of inmates in communities throughout the state. Ray McNally, in his role as a political consultant to the California
From the Los Angeles Times Overcrowding Stifles
Inmates' Successes
June 28, 2006 To understand some of the problems facing California's prison system, which will be the subject of a special legislative session this summer, go to Lancaster. At the only state prison in Los Angeles County, a rehabilitation program that once won raves tottered on the brink of closure recently because of overcrowding. When the program started five years ago, 600 inmates lived in relative harmony in the honor yard at Lancaster, where those who vowed to stay away from drugs and fighting could participate in classes such as painting, woodworking and yoga and receive mail and canteen privileges. They could play baseball with a real bat among inmates of various races — something unheard of in regular yards, where prisoners self-segregate according to race and gang affiliation. (In a general population yard, prisoners are not allowed to use bats or other sports equipment because they can be used as weapons.) But the quality of the program declined steadily over the last two years as prisoners who did not meet the criteria were allowed in, marring the once-calm environment with fighting, drug use and an uncooperative attitude, staffers and inmates said. "They say they're dumping inmates because there's no other place for them," said Father Thomas White, the prison's Catholic chaplain. "That's the standard excuse. But if you let in all these knuckleheads, at some point it will break." Because of the problems and a lack of funding, the former acting warden — Robert Ayers — announced that he was going to close the program. But after protests, officials — including current Warden Robert Wong — decided to keep it open for now, citing its record of reducing prison violence and drug use. The effort to keep the program afloat and effective speaks to the larger problems at the 4,500-inmate prison in Lancaster, which has struggled recently. The warden who preceded Ayers was fired last year amid criticism of a comedy show for inmates that contained sexually explicit and racially insensitive material. Five inmates died at the prison in the last two years, including a 27-year-old man who was beaten, stomped and strangled by his cellmate and another who went into cardiac arrest after attacking a correctional officer. The string of deaths caused prison reform advocates to protest outside the gates. Although the honor program was widely viewed as one of Lancaster's success stories, it was handcuffed by a population boom in California's prisons, which are expected to absorb 23,000 more felons in the next five years. Ayers said that with so many prisoners flooding the system, he could not afford to leave any bed unoccupied. California's prison population is expected to climb to 193,000 by 2011 — up from 170,000 today. The Antelope Valley facility is at more than double its capacity. "The population is growing so fast and is so huge, and we're trying to place so many inmates around the state, that it's hard to avoid," Ayers said. "When we start narrowing our options as a department, we start narrowing where we can put people. We need beds," Ayers said. The department has put a number of inmates in the honor yard "that by the strictest criteria wouldn't necessarily have been accepted there had it been an official honor program," he said A study released by Lancaster prison officials in 2003 compared illegal activity in the yard before and after the program was established. It indicated that weapons infractions had decreased 88%, violence and threatening behavior had dropped 85% and drug-related offenses and trafficking were down 43%. In addition, there were no acts of battery on staff and no work stoppages or lockdowns as a result of misbehavior in the first year. That pattern held over the next four years, except for a stabbing in March 2004 and a violent melee the next month involving six prisoners, some of whom did not meet the honor yard criteria. The debate in Lancaster comes as officials in Sacramento are trying to improve the prison system. Saying that federal courts could seize control of the prisons, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Monday called a special legislative session and said the state must build more lockups soon. He proposed a variety of improvements, including constructing two prisons. But critics have long said the state needed to focus more on rehabilitating prisoners, noting that the state's recidivism rate of 70% is the nation's highest. State Sen. Gloria Romero (D-Los Angeles) visited the Lancaster honor yard several years ago and was impressed by what she saw. She said there were several ways to keep the program going. The prison population could be reduced by the compassionate release of medically incapacitated inmates, modifying the three-strikes law and housing nonviolent female offenders in less costly county jails, she said. "The honor yard was one of the shining stars of the system," said Romero, chairwoman of the Senate Select Committee on the California Correctional System. "It was one of the best-kept secrets but did not get support from within the department to champion it. "Yes, there is a population crisis," she continued, "but are we going to see a de facto shutting down of every rehabilitation program in corrections because of it?" Terry Thornton, a department spokeswoman, said officials intend to eventually make all prisons similar to honor yards by rooting out misbehaving inmates. "What we desire is that all general population yards should function like the honor yard functions," Thornton said. If inmates don't want to participate in educational programs, "they're the ones who should be segregated, not those who want to participate." The department opened a pilot "behavior modification yard" in November at High Desert State Prison in Susanville, where inmates who refuse to participate in academic and substance abuse classes are separated and ordered to take anger management courses and attend Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous meetings. Prisoners in regular housing who choose to take classes often are ostracized by nonparticipants, Thornton said. Removing troublemakers allows those who want to enroll in programs to do so without harassment, she said. Relatives of inmates in the honor yard said it is one of the few positive experiences their loved ones have encountered behind bars. Judy Babbs, whose 36-year-old son, Thomas, is serving a life sentence for murder, said he has benefited enormously from a program that allows prison artists to sell their paintings at auction to raise money for abused children. She did not want her son's last name used for fear that it would upset the family of the man he killed. "It helps him to feel he's giving back to society rather than sitting there doing nothing," Babbs said of the arts program. "I worry as a mom because I don't want him to be just another inmate." Kenneth Hartman, who is serving a life sentence for murder, was instrumental in getting the program started. "If you have a large group of people, and some want to conduct themselves one way, it makes sense to put them all in one place," Hartman said by telephone from the prison. To be considered for the program, inmates had to have a violence-free record in prison for the previous five years with no gang affiliations and had to "manifest a willingness to program with inmates of any race." They had to sign a contract agreeing to all of this, and to random drug testing. Hartman said that peer pressure prevented inmates from getting out of line and that none wanted to lose their privileges. Prisoners willingly served on a steering committee that set rules and developed activities. "Instead of dealing with normal, everyday grievances — like how come the food doesn't taste good — we try to forward an agenda of prison reform and activism," Hartman said. "This is a chance to live like human beings. To act like grown-ups."
Scripps Howard News Service http://www.shns.com/shns/g_index2.cfm?action=detail&pk=PRISONS-05-24-06 Plans address California prison overcrowding By MARK MARTIN
SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- Facing jam-packed prisons and projections that overcrowding will worsen, the speaker of the Assembly has introduced legislation that could lead to a new prison construction boom, and the state's prison guards union is suggesting the early release of some inmates. The proposals by one of the most powerful Democrats in California and the politically potent union reflect the difficulties inside Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's corrections system, in which some inmates are forced to sleep in hallways, gyms and classrooms. The plans are likely to intensify a long-simmering debate in Sacramento over crime and punishment in California. The state has just concluded 20 years of prison construction, and spending on corrections has soared by 65 percent during the past three years. While other states have revamped sentencing and parole policies to reduce or stabilize prison populations and cut costs, California has not. Schwarzenegger abruptly abandoned parole reforms last year, and a bureaucratic reorganization intended to lower the number of inmates who continually return to prison has yet to yield results. Voters defeated a measure in 2004 that would have limited the use of the "three strikes" law, which automatically sentences repeat violators to long prison terms. And an initiative on the November ballot supported by Schwarzenegger will extend sentences for many sex offenders. "We are addicted to building prisons," complained state Sen. Gloria Romero, D-Los Angeles, chairwoman of a Senate committee on corrections, who attacked legislation by Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez, D-Los Angeles, that would issue bonds to build new prison cells as "a shortsighted, nonsensical approach." Nunez described his legislation, AB2902, which was amended last week to become a bill about prisons, as a way to jump-start a conversation on "dangerous overcrowding" in prisons. The legislation requires corrections officials to review other housing options, such as geriatric facilities for elderly inmates or substance-abuse treatment facilities, before bonds would be issued to build prisons. The bill does not specify how much money might be spent. "We've got to deal with the problem," Nunez said. At the same time, the California Correctional Peace Officers Association, which has considerable clout in the Legislature, has produced a plan to address overcrowding. The plan has been shown to lawmakers and the governor's office. The proposal includes building two new prisons at an accelerated pace, exploring alternative housing options such as tents, and allowing some inmates charged with nonviolent crimes to get out of prison 30 days early. "We should be looking at any option to give the system a breather," said Chuck Alexander, an executive with the union. Alexander stressed that the early-release proposal would apply only to a select group of inmates convicted of nonviolent crimes who had behaved while behind bars. Alexander described the situation in overcrowded prisons as "more heated, more tense and more uncivil." A guard at Folsom State Prison was taken hostage by an inmate earlier this month before eventually being released unharmed. The problem is exacerbated by more than 4,000 unfilled positions throughout the system, which Alexander said was forcing many guards to work back-to-back 16-hour shifts. "It's at a critical mass," he said. "We've got a real, genuine fear that we're going to lose a prison." California's inmate population has climbed to more than 170,000, and every prison in the system is holding significantly more people than it is designed for _ Avenal State Prison in Kings County is operating at 235 percent capacity, and Chuckawalla State Prison in Riverside County is at 244 percent capacity. And the crowded conditions seem likely to continue: Corrections officials released predictions earlier this spring that suggest the system will add 23,000 more felons during the next five years. The upswing comes just two years after the Schwarzenegger administration promised to lower the inmate population through an overhaul of the parole system. The plan was to develop alternatives to prison for parolees who violated conditions of parole _ the state sends thousands of parolees back to prison for technical violations of parole. But the governor's proposal was attacked by both the prison guards union and crime victims groups because the administration had failed to develop alternative programs, and Schwarzenegger dropped it. The administration has suffered several other setbacks in corrections. It lost control of the prison health care system to a federal receiver, and the last two heads of the system quit this year within three months. In January, the governor proposed a major investment in new prisons and jails as part of his infrastructure plan. But Democrats balked and Schwarzenegger backed off, instead cutting a deal with lawmakers to issue bonds to build new roads, schools and levees. Unlike the governor's proposal, Nunez's plan calls for using a type of bond that has been used to finance prison construction in the past and does not require voter approval. Nunez acknowledged that he didn't think voters would support new prisons. "Voters don't get it. They want to be tough on crime, but they don't want to pay for it," Nunez said. A spokesman for the governor said Schwarzenegger supported building new prisons. "The governor and the speaker have talked about the issue and share serious concerns about prison overcrowding," said Bill Maile. "The governor looks forward to working with the legislative leaders to negotiate a bipartisan solution that addresses the severe overpopulation of our institutions," Maile said. (Distributed by Scripps-McClatchy Western Service, http://www.shns.com .)
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2006/05/24/MNGLAJ16051.DTL Call for new prisons, shorter sentences to ease crowding
Sacramento -- Facing jam-packed prisons and projections that overcrowding will worsen, the speaker of the Assembly has introduced legislation that could lead to a new prison construction boom, and the state's prison guards union is suggesting the early release of some inmates. The proposals by one of the most powerful Democrats in Sacramento and the politically potent union reflect the difficulties inside Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's corrections system, in which some inmates are forced to sleep in hallways, gyms and classrooms. The plans are likely to intensify a long-simmering debate in Sacramento over crime and punishment in California. The state has just concluded 20 years of prison construction, and spending on corrections has soared by 65 percent during the past three years. While other states have revamped sentencing and parole policies to reduce or stabilize prison populations and cut costs, California has not. Schwarzenegger abruptly abandoned parole reforms last year, and a bureaucratic reorganization intended to lower the number of inmates who continually return to prison has yet to yield results. Voters defeated a measure in 2004 that would have limited the use of the "three strikes" law, which automatically sentences repeat violators to long prison terms. And an initiative on the November ballot supported by Schwarzenegger will extend sentences for many sex offenders. "We are addicted to building prisons,'' complained state Sen. Gloria Romero, D-Los Angeles, chairwoman of a Senate committee on corrections, who attacked legislation by Assembly Speaker Fabian Núñez, D-Los Angeles, that would issue bonds to build new prison cells as "a shortsighted, nonsensical approach." Núñez described his legislation, AB2902, which was amended last week to become a bill about prisons, as a way to jump-start a conversation on "dangerous overcrowding" in prisons. The legislation requires corrections officials to review other housing options, such as geriatric facilities for elderly inmates or substance-abuse treatment facilities, before bonds would be issued to build prisons. The bill does not specify how much money might be spent. "We've got to deal with the problem,'' Núñez said. At the same time, the California Correctional Peace Officers Association, which has considerable clout in the Legislature, has produced a plan to address overcrowding. The plan has been shown to lawmakers and the governor's office. The proposal includes building two new prisons at an accelerated pace, exploring alternative housing options such as tents, and allowing some inmates charged with nonviolent crimes to get out of prison 30 days early. "We should be looking at any option to give the system a breather,'' said Chuck Alexander, an executive with the union. Alexander stressed that the early-release proposal would apply only to a select group of inmates convicted of nonviolent crimes who had behaved while behind bars. Alexander described the situation in overcrowded prisons as "more heated, more tense and more uncivil.'' A guard at Folsom State Prison was taken hostage by an inmate earlier this month before eventually being released unharmed. The problem is exacerbated by more than 4,000 unfilled positions throughout the system, which Alexander said was forcing many guards to work back-to-back 16-hour shifts. "It's at a critical mass,'' he said. "We've got a real, genuine fear that we're going to lose a prison.'' California's inmate population has climbed to more than 170,000, and every prison in the system is holding significantly more people than it is designed for -- Avenal State Prison in Kings County is operating at 235 percent capacity, and Chuckawalla State Prison in Riverside County is at 244 percent capacity. And the crowded conditions seem likely to continue: Corrections officials released predictions earlier this spring that suggest the system will add 23,000 more felons during the next five years. The upswing comes just two years after the Schwarzenegger administration promised to lower the inmate population through an overhaul of the parole system. The plan was to develop alternatives to prison for parolees who violated conditions of parole -- the state sends thousands of parolees back to prison for technical violations of parole. Many other states -- including Illinois, Ohio, Washington, Maryland and New York -- have enacted programs to provide drug treatment or job training to parolees in danger of returning to prison. But the governor's proposal was attacked by both the prison guards union and crime victims groups because the administration had failed to develop alternative programs, and Schwarzenegger dropped it. The administration has suffered several other setbacks in corrections. It lost control of the prison health care system to a federal receiver, and the last two heads of the system quit this year within three months. In January, the governor proposed a major investment in new prisons and jails as part of his infrastructure plan. But Democrats balked and Schwarzenegger backed off, instead cutting a deal with lawmakers to issue bonds to build new roads, schools and levees. Unlike the governor's proposal, Núñez's plan calls for using a type of bond that has been used to finance prison construction in the past and does not require voter approval. Núñez acknowledged that he didn't think voters would support new prisons. "Voters don't get it. They want to be tough on crime, but they don't want to pay for it,'' Núñez said. A spokesman for the governor said Schwarzenegger supported building new prisons. "The governor and the speaker have talked about the issue and share serious concerns about prison overcrowding,'' said Bill Maile. "The governor looks forward to working with the legislative leaders to negotiate a bipartisan solution that addresses the severe overpopulation of our institutions,'' Maile said. Schwarzenegger said two weeks ago that he opposed releasing inmates early. Núñez's bill may spark a battle among Democrats. While the speaker insisted he hopes to find alternatives to prison-building, some Senate Democrats, including Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata, D-Oakland, said they would oppose legislation that could issue bonds for new facilities. The state has built 22 prisons since 1984, opening a new facility just last year. "You build more prisons, and you get more prisoners. That's just the
way it works,'' said Perata. "It's time to make some very hard decisions
about low-level offenders and parole violators, and we will find out if
the political will is there to talk about this."
By the numbers
State's prison population 244% Population of Chuckawalla State Prison, as a percentage of capacity 65% Increase in state prison spending during past three years 4,000 Vacant job positions in prison system E-mail Mark Martin at markmartin@sfchronicle.com .
http://www.lompocrecord.com/articles/2006/05/08/opinions/050806a.txt Dealing with prison mess They're sleeping in hallways and gymnasiums. They're stacked three deep in bunk beds. They wait hours to bathe and sometimes just to get a meal. Obviously, life in California's prison system is not all it's cracked up to be. The state's chronically overcrowded prisons are going to get even more crowded in the next five years. A state report last week estimated another 23,000 inmates will be incarcerated during that period, bringing the overall population at the state's 33 prisons to nearly 200,000. It's difficult for the general, law-abiding public to work up much sympathy for those convicted of a felony and sentenced to prison, but the situation in California's lockups has reached crisis proportions, and corrections experts are warning state officials that many prisons are just one missed meal or an insult away from devastating riots. There are only two options available for relieving the strain - either build more cell space, or send fewer people to prison. Gov. Arnold Scharzenegger suggested a couple of years ago spending billions to expand the prison system, but that notion didn't fly. Instead, the state floated a scheme to divert more nonviolent inmates to community treatment programs. But that plan fell by the wayside, too, in large part because of objections from the powerful prison guard's union, whose leaders apparently believed that successful diversion programs would eventually reduce the prison population - and eliminate jobs currently held by their dues-paying members. Lawmakers last week approved a multi-billion-dollar borrowing plan to rebuild some of California's aging infrastructure, but money for more prison space was not part of the deal. So, if state officials don't want a prison disaster on their hands, they must ignore the guard's union and go back to the strategy of diverting nonviolent inmates to community and monitoring programs that can help relieve some of the pressure. Lowering the prison population is the only workable solution, because the state's lawmakers and taxpayers are unwilling to pay for building their way out of this problem. May 8, 2006
http://www.dailynews.com/Stories/0,1413,200~20943~2413361,00.html Los Angeles Daily News
Desert prison jammed
By Greg Botonis
Sunday, September 19, 2004 - LANCASTER -- Crammed with more than double the inmates it was designed to hold, California State Prison-Los Angeles County has some sleeping in recreation rooms and a gymnasium. Since the first year it opened, more than 4,000 inmates have been assigned to the prison designed for 2,200, and the population explosion has been especially great since spring. Officials hope the crowding may ease next year with the opening of a new San Joaquin Valley prison. "Our inmate population has never been this high," said prison spokesman Ken Lewis. "There was an influx of arrests in the Los Angeles County area, and most of these guys are from L.A. County. It's not just us, though. All of our prisons (statewide) have seen a jump in inmate population." The prison, which opened in 1993, currently houses some 4,600 inmates. One-man cells became two-man cells soon after the opening. Six years ago, bunk beds were installed in a gymnasium, along with showers and toilets, to accommodate 119 inmates. In April, bunk beds for more than 150 inmates were carried into cell block day rooms -- where inmates are allowed to watch TV, play cards and write letters -- in one of the prison's four sections. Officials are hoping that opening of California's 34th prison, scheduled for next year in Delano, will relieve crowding so bunk beds can be removed from day rooms and the gymnasium. Statewide, with more than 160,000 inmates in state prisons at any given time, about 9,500 occupy unconventional living areas. Critics say ventilation is poor for sleeping, toilet access is limited, and conditions can become dangerous for correctional officers. Correctional officers already have complained about conditions and pay. California Department of Corrections officials say criticism is nothing new. "We house inmates in all types of facilities throughout the state, and cleanliness has always been a concern," said prison representative Terry Thornton. "I've never seen any unsanitary conditions when I've visited these facilities."
http://www.sacbee.com/content/politics/story/9184034p-10109610c.html Lawmakers to prisons: Plan better
Poor planning, not a crisis, caused the state prison system to declare a state of emergency last month so officials could quickly shuffle more than 2,000 inmates between prisons, lawmakers said at a public briefing Tuesday. Prison officials said they declared the state of emergency to deal with an unexpected spike in the number of inmates coming from county jails that sent the overall prison population to a near-historic high. But after hearing officials' accounts, state Sen. Gloria Romero, D-Los Angeles, said the Department of Corrections needed to set up a better system of dealing with population fluctuations. "They have not, I believe, properly managed the population," said Romero, who called for the briefing after reports last week that the Department of Corrections had declared an emergency without notifying the Legislature. "It's management. It's administrative," Romero said. In mid-April, the state prison population reached 162,456, the second-highest ever. The system posted its highest occupancy ever in September 2000 with 162,533 inmates. Originally, the state projected it would have about 1,200 fewer inmates than it does now. But a surge in criminal bookings at county jails boosted the population. And reforms in the state's parole system designed to alleviate overcrowding have yet to take full effect. Those changes would funnel parole violators to drug treatment and other community services instead of returning them to prison cells. To deal with the crowded conditions, prison officials are changing a medium-security prison to a maximum-security facility, converting a minimum-security prison to medium security, and placing hundreds of minimum-security prisoners into triple-bunked gymnasiums and dormitories. Officials declared a state of emergency so they could transfer inmates around quickly without giving them the 72-hour notice required by state law. Now thousands of prisoners are being bused around the state to different facilities. Officials said they still were trying to figure out how much the emergency measures were costing the state. They added that the situation had been complicated by an outbreak of tuberculosis at the prison in Vacaville, which prevented them from transferring prisoners there until medical testing was completed. Senators said the situation did not seem like an emergency. "There shouldn't be an element of surprise," said Sen. Sheila Kuehl, D-Santa Monica. "We hear emergency, but what we're seeing is a surprise." Jeanne Woodford, the recently appointed director of the Department of Corrections, defended her staff. "The staff of the Department of Corrections is doing an amazing job of matching inmates up with beds," Woodford said. "Are we perfect? We can't be perfect. ... This time we got surprised."
The Bee's Clea Benson can be reached at (916) 326-5533 or cbenson@sacbee.com .
http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/politics/8592794.htm?1c Posted on Wed, May. 05, 2004
Inmate surge built for months
SACRAMENTO - The unexpected rise in the state's prison population was months in the making, not a sudden spike of new inmates, figures released Tuesday show. Citing a surge in cases from large counties, Department of Corrections officials on April 1 declared a state of emergency as the prison population approached historic highs of more than 162,000. Tuesday, however, the Senate Select Committee on California's correctional system released figures showing that a rise of new cases began at least as long ago as last summer. In the final six months of 2003, for example, the prison system registered a 12 1/2 percent jump in new admissions compared with the same period in 2002, according to corrections department figures made public by state Sen. Gloria Romero, D-Los Angeles, who has been co-chairing prison oversight hearings. ``These are not spikes; these are trends,'' Romero said after a hearing on the prison state of emergency. Noting that the department is moving prisoners around the state to accommodate new inmates, she said, ``It's like shuffling chairs on the Titanic.'' Corrections Director Jeanne Woodford objected to that characterization, saying her department handles 80,000 new inmates a year. ``And this time we got surprised,'' she said, citing the influx of prisoners, especially from larger counties in Southern California. As a result, some prisons, such as Folsom, are being transformed to handle tougher inmates, meaning they need extra security staff. However, the department could provide no cost figures for transporting the additional inmates or overtime for guards. As lawmakers wrestle with budget cuts, the corrections department said last month that it may need an additional $238 million for an unexpected jump in its inmate population. Lance Corcoran, executive vice president of the California Correctional Peace Officers Association, testified the changes will ``drive overtime.'' He said the union had been notified by the corrections department of the need to trim 641 officers at a time when the prison population is rising. J.P. Tremblay, a department spokesman, said the previous corrections administration had agreed to the cuts. However, he said they would not result in layoffs. On the issue of prison population, Tremblay acknowledged there had been an increase in new admissions and parole violators with new convictions. That, he said, has offset an overall drop in parole violations. Said Tremblay: ``That's why we haven't seen the reduction in population
we had originally predicted for this year.''
Contact Mark Gladstone at mgladstone@mercurynews. com or (916) 325-4314.
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/la-ed-prisons28apr28,1,2595168.story STATE PRISONS' REVOLVING DOOR
April 28, 2004 State prison leaders' declaration of an "emergency" because of overcrowding is mostly a sign of their inability to anticipate California's correctional needs. The calamity — the arrival of 1,200 more inmates than had been expected — was predictable. For over a year, county sheriffs have made no secret of the fiscal crises forcing them to fold local beds and bus thousands of "wobblers," or inmates who could be housed either in local jails or state prisons, to state facilities. One consequence of the emergency declaration, reported Tuesday by Times staff writer Evan Halper, is that it will let state prison officials move scores of nonviolent offenders into jammed, three-bed cells with violent offenders and no treatment. These inmates were previously housed in cellblocks where drug treatment and other rehabilitation services were sometimes available. As it is, only 21% of California prisoners complete parole without returning to prison, according to the state's legislative analyst. In recent months there have been scores of hearings and lots of indignation, but remarkably little has changed: • The department is six months behind in its plan to send 15,000 nonviolent offenders (people convicted of such "administrative" parole violations as a positive drug test or failure to meet a parole agent on time) not to prison but to drug treatment centers or into home detention with electronic monitoring. • There are no plans to alleviate the overcrowding in the most obvious, cost-effective way — by reopening the three private prisons closed only five months ago. The prisons charged taxpayers $16,000 to $19,000 an inmate a year and provided such services as drug abuse counseling and job training. When they were closed, inmates were transferred to public prisons at a cost of $50,000 an inmate, without rehabilitation. • No one is compelling prison officials to explain why they have recently reclassified thousands of low-risk inmates as high-risk. The chief beneficiary may be the prison guards union, for whose members it creates opportunities to earn lucrative overtime in high-security prisons. Even if all of the people transferred from counties do need to stay behind bars, the cost would be far less in the private prisons. At least one bill active in the state Legislature would address some of the problem. SB 1468 by Sen. Jackie Speier (D-Hillsborough), which the Senate Public Safety Committee passed Tuesday, would reward counties that develop programs to reduce repeat offenses and keep nonviolent offenders out of $70-a-day county jail beds. It would also create a commission to measure success in both state prisons and county jails. The state's prison system continues to be skewed and distorted by the prison guards union, whose lavish campaign contributions have bought them huge salary increases and too much power over how prisons are run. Taxpayers are still waiting for legislators to fix this calamity behind bars.
latimes.com/news/local/la-me-honor27apr27,1,7568819.story?coll=la-headlines-california THE VALLEY
April 27, 2004 An innovative program that seeks to reduce violence among maximum-security inmates is being severely tested at the state prison in Lancaster, where a population squeeze is forcing officials to house dangerous criminals with others who have vowed to remain peaceful. Since 2000, Lancaster's honor yard program has created a special housing area for prisoners who have promised to stay away from gangs, drugs and violence. Families, convicts and prison experts have praised the program for reducing violent incidents, and prison officials have considered taking the idea to other lockups around the state. But last month, about 130 inmates who did not meet the criteria were transferred to honor yard housing, prison spokesman Lt. Ken Lewis said Monday. Some of them are responsible for a stabbing March 16 and a violent melee Friday involving six prisoners. As a result of the fight, some honor inmates remained locked in their cells Monday while prison guards investigated the incident. Lewis acknowledged that the transfer ran the risk of diluting the honors program. "But our main goal is to house inmates, [and] we have to do what we have to do to house inmates. We're overcrowded," he said. The honors yard now houses 850 inmates. Lewis said that state corrections officials had told the prison to make more room for convicts with "sensitive needs," such as gang informants or other potential targets. In the last few weeks, the number of these inmates has doubled to 2,000. That change displaced inmates who do not qualify for either the sensitive needs or honors program. Some were shipped to different prisons, but others remained at Lancaster, where the only beds available for them were in the honor yard, he said. Kenneth E. Hartman, an honors program inmate, wrote a letter to Youth and Adult Corrections Secretary Roderick Q. Hickman after the March stabbing incident, saying he feared it was "the start of a spate of violence." Lt. Charles Hughes, president of the local chapter of the California Correctional Peace Officers Assn., said that staff members also worried about the changes. But he hoped the prison could find a way to maintain peace in the yard, he said. "Cops want it, inmates want it and management wants it," Hughes said. "I still think with some good managerial stuff we can make it work." The recent melee was quelled when officers fired block guns and sprayed mace at the fighting inmates. Giving few details, Lewis said all of the honor yard's black inmates and those classified as racial "others" by the Department of Corrections — usually Asians or Pacific Islanders — would remain locked in their cells for the time being, because the fight involved members of those two groups. A study released by Lancaster prison officials in 2003 compared illegal activity in the yard before and after the honors program was established. It showed that weapons infractions decreased 88%, violence and threatening behavior dropped 85% and drug-related offenses and trafficking were down 43%.
California overcrowds prisons by busting paroled ex-cons
By BOB PORTERFIELD
SAN FRANCISCO -- California has a take-all-prisoners approach to ex-convicts, a policy so tough that more than half the inmates in state prisons are behind bars for violating parole, an Associated Press analysis has found. More than 82 percent of these returned parolees are busted back to prison for less than a year, serving new sentences for such minor violations as being drunk in public, driving more than 50 miles from home or driving with a suspended license. The policy has proven costly for state taxpayers -- returning so many parolees for such short sentences accounts for more than 20 percent of California's prison spending, which overall has busted the budget by $1.58 billion in the past five years, the AP found. The percentage of parolees in the state's prisons is 10 times higher than that of Texas, and is so out of step with other states that California accounts for 42 percent of all parole violators returned to state prisons in the United States, according to a 2002 study by the Urban Institute's Justice Policy Center. Prison officials justify the huge number of parole revocations as a means of taking dangerous ex-cons off the streets. But the practice is increasingly criticized as wasteful and ineffective, especially for non-violent offenders struggling to become productive members of society. California settled a class-action suit late last year that will add legal protections for parolees in hearings and substitute substance abuse treatment for prison sentences in some cases. The Legislature is likely to take reforms further, given mounting budget overruns. "We've got to solve the parole problem before we tackle the (prisons) budget," said State Sen. Gloria Romero, D-Los Angeles, chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Corrections, which conducted a hearing on the parole system last November. The percentage of parolees who have had their parole revoked has risen steadily in recent years and is now well over 60 percent per year. Re-jailing the prisoners in turn worsens overcrowding. Each of California's 33 prisons are above capacity, leading to hundreds of millions of dollars in unbudgeted overtime for prison guards. Prison officials say revoking parole in administrative hearings often buys time for prosecutors to build stronger cases. "It's a safety net," said Bill Sessa, a spokesman for the Board of Prison Terms, the agency responsible for parole revocation proceedings. The revocations avoid having to put criminals on trial for minor offenses, and when major crimes are involved, "we can keep a parolee behind bars until a case can be made." But a November report by the Little Hoover Commission, a state watchdog agency, suggests that instead of being prosecuted for major new crimes, parolees suspected of serious offenses are being recycled back to the street in a matter of months. For example, ex-cons whose whose parole was revoked for homicide in 2000 served an average of 9.9 months, according to the Hoover report. By comparison, the average sentence for the lesser crime of voluntary manslaughter in a criminal court conviction was six years and two months. Citing a study by the Urban Institute, the report also stated that the largest group of returned inmates -- about a third -- goes back to prison for drug use or possession. From a policy perspective, treatment and training would be more effective, the report said. Many of those parolees ultimately land on the streets in Oakland, where Mayor Jerry Brown says his city suffers because of the state parole system. "The revolving door is failing. They aren't getting the marketable skills and literacy they need in prison. It's a big huge problem," said Brown. Oakland isn't waiting -- the city started its own intervention program aimed the substance abusers among the city's estimated 3,000 parolees. California starts with a huge group of parolees, thanks to the state's blanket policy of placing every released inmate on parole for three years. California's percentage of revoked parolees behind bars is more than double that of the six next largest states. Only Illinois, New York and Ohio have revoked parolee prison populations in double-digit percentages. In Texas, which has nearly as many inmates as in California, only 5 percent of the prisoners are revoked parolees. Gail Hughes, executive director of the Association of Paroling Authorities International, said the elements of California's parole policy aren't unusual. "What is unique is the number of violators you have returned (to prison). Those numbers skewer the national averages." According to AP's calculations, California returned 85,551 parole violators to prison in 2002, resulting in incarceration costs of almost $1.1 billion, or 21.6 percent of the entire Corrections budget. The year before, 88,806 parole violators were returned at a cost estimated to be $1.13 billion, or 24.2 percent of that year's budget. Numbers for 2003 have yet to be released. These expenditures do not include the nearly $500 million spent annually on parolee supervision. The growing number of parole revocation proceedings drives the Board of Prison Terms' budget, which has more than doubled since 1999 to $29.7 million. In 2002 the board conducted 102,540 revocation cases, an increase of 41.6 percent above 2000 (There are more revocations than returned parolees because some violators made more than one trip back to prison). More than 40 percent of the parolees charged with violations accepted a "screening offer," essentially a plea bargain that avoids a formal hearing. Although Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has ordered the corrections budget reduced by $400 million in the coming fiscal year, it's uncertain where they can cut without a sharp drop in revocations. Corrections officials say they are studying ways to reduce the numbers of re-jailed parolees and optimistically predict that alternatives could save hundreds of millions. "If we were able to drop the number of inmates by 15,000 there could be as much as $200 million in savings," agrees Romero. A recent federal decision settling a 9-year-old class-action suit known as the Validivia case also could cut the number of revocations, although it might add some expensive legal safeguards. The settlement will send some non-violent substance abusers to treatment instead of to prison. And California will revamp its revocation procedures, which may result in fewer returned parolees, but more expensive hearings. However, according to Margaret Pina, a budget analyst for Romero's committee, Valdivia's costs would not offset the savings. "They won't be washed away by everybody having a lawyer. The way to save money is not sending people to prison."
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A43362-2004Jan23.html America's Prison Habit By Alan Elsner
After 25 years of explosive growth in the U.S. prison system, is this country finally ending its love affair with incarceration? Perhaps, but as in any abusive relationship, breaking up will be hard to do. Since 1980 the U.S. prison and jail population has quadrupled in size to more than 2 million. In the process, prisons have embedded themselves into the nation's economic and social fabric. A powerful lobby has grown up around the prison system that will fight hard to protect the status quo. There are some positive signs, as set forth in Vincent Schiraldi's Nov. 30 article in the Outlook section. Fiscal pressures may indeed slow the growth of the vast U.S. prison system. But reversing the trend of the past quarter-century is another matter. Major companies such as Wackenhut Corrections Corp. and Corrections Corp. of America employ sophisticated lobbyists to protect and expand their market share. The law enforcement technology industry, which produces high-tech items such as the latest stab-proof vests, helmets, stun guns, shields, batons and chemical agents, does more than a billion dollars a year in business. With 2.2 million people engaged in catching criminals and putting and keeping them behind bars, "corrections" has become one of the largest sectors of the U.S. economy, employing more people than the combined workforces of General Motors, Ford and Wal-Mart, the three biggest corporate employers in the country. Correctional officers have developed powerful labor unions. And most politicians, whether at the local, state or national level, remain acutely aware that allowing themselves to be portrayed as "soft on crime" is the quickest route to electoral defeat. In the past two decades, hundreds of "prison towns" have multiplied -- places that are dependent on prisons for their economic vitality. Take Fremont County, Colo., where the No. 1 employer is the Colorado Department of Corrections, with nine prisons, and No. 2 is the Federal Bureau of Prisons with four. Towns that once might have hesitated about bringing a prison to town now rush to put together incentive packages. Abilene, Tex., offered the state incentives worth more than $4 million to get a prison. The package included a 316-acre site and 1,100 acres of farmland adjacent to the facility. Buckeye, 35 miles west of Phoenix, was a sleepy little desert outpost with a population of about 5,000 until it competed successfully for a major state prison. After that the state upgraded the road leading to the town and the population began to explode. A new movie theater and a $2.5 million swimming complex opened. Because Buckeye was sitting on ample supplies of water, it suddenly became prime real estate. Mayor Dusty Hull reckons the town will reach 35,000 in five years. According to the Department of Agriculture's Economic Research Service, 245 prisons sprouted in 212 rural counties during the 1990s. In West Texas, where oil and farming both collapsed, 11 rural counties acquired prisons in that decade. The Mississippi Delta, one of the poorest regions in the country, got seven new prisons. Appalachian counties of Virginia, West Virginia and Kentucky built nine, partially replacing the collapsing coal-mining industry. If the prisons closed, these communities would quickly collapse again. When states try to cut prison budgets, they quickly come up against powerful interests. In Mississippi in 2001, Gov. Ronnie Musgrove vetoed the state's corrections budget so he could spend more money on schools. The legislature, lobbied by Wackenhut, overrode the veto. In fiscally distressed California, about 6 percent of the state budget goes to corrections. Yet no senior politician, including Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, has dared challenge the power of the 31,000-member California Correctional Peace Officers Association, which pours a third of the $22 million it collects each year in membership dues into political action committees. Even efforts by some states to speed up the release of nonviolent offenders are unlikely to reduce the total prison population by much. The Bureau of Justice Statistics has found that two-thirds of those released from prison on parole are re-arrested within three years. Released prisoners face institutional barriers that make it difficult for them to find a place in society. Welfare reform legislation in 1996 banned anyone convicted of buying or selling drugs from receiving cash assistance or food stamps for life. Legislation in 1996 and 1998 also excluded ex-felons and their families from federal housing. Most inmates leave prison with no money and few prospects. They may get $25 and a bus ticket home if they are lucky. Studies have found that within a year of release, 60 percent of ex-inmates remain unemployed. Several states have barred parolees from working in various professions, including real estate, medicine, nursing, engineering, education and dentistry. The Higher Education Act of 1998 bars people convicted of drug offenses from receiving student loans. Prisoners are told to reform but they are given few tools to do so. Once they are entangled in the prison system, many belong to it for life. They may spend stretches of time inside prison and periods outside but they are never truly free. Last year Robert Presley, secretary of California's correctional agency, noted that after several years of decline, crime rates were rising again and his state's prison population had resumed its growth. Maximum-security inmates made up the fastest-growing segment. Despite the building boom of the previous 20 years, prisons were at an average of 191 percent of capacity. This hardly sounds like a recipe for a falling prison population. Alan Elsner is author of the forthcoming book "Gates of Injustice: America's Prison Crisis."
http://www.sacbee.com/content/politics/story/7775881p-8714871c.html Steep inmate decline slated
California's prison population is expected to drop by 15,000 in the
next year and a half as the result of budget-cutting measures that could
lead to units or entire facilities being closed, the state Department of
Corrections said Wednesday.
Faced with an unprecedented fiscal crisis, the Legislature and Gov. Gray Davis this past summer approved a budget that called for several policy changes designed to reduce the prison population. The department was directed to release prisoners a few months early to supervised drug treatment, expand opportunities for inmates to earn time credit for good behavior and take a number of steps to limit the number of parolees returned to institutions. The department has analyzed how these changes will work and recently came up with the projection of 15,000 fewer inmates through June 2005, spokesman Russ Heimerich said. The changes are expected to save the state $125 million in the current fiscal year and more in the following year. Each inmate costs the state $28,000 to $35,000 annually, said Sue North, chief of staff for state Sen. John Vasconcellos, a member of the Senate committee that oversees prisons. North said inmates released will be nonviolent offenders unlikely to commit new crimes. "They're releasing people who should not pose a risk to the public safety," she said. "It's time for them to come out." At least one lawmaker was not so sure. "It seems like a very high number, a very concerning number," said Assemblyman Tony Strickland, R-Moorpark, who added that he wanted to examine the Department of Corrections' plans. Strickland did not vote for the budget bill that contained the policy changes and said he wasn't aware of them. "It's certainly not my priority to let prisoners out early," he said. In one change, prisoners will start earning behavior time credits for taking part in education programs as soon as they arrive in prison reception centers, instead of waiting until they reach their destinations. That change, scheduled for Dec. 1, is expected to save $28 million this year and $51 million in the 2004-05 fiscal year, Heimerich said. Inmates also will get good time credit reducing their sentences if they are on waiting lists to get into work or education programs. Some inmates will be released to residential drug-treatment programs four months before their sentences end, saving $20 million this year and $61 million in the coming fiscal year. The prisons would do more to prepare inmates for release to reduce the number of parolees sent back. Mentally ill inmates would be referred to community treatment programs, for instance. A parolee with a substance-abuse problem who fails a drug test might go to a halfway house or be monitored at home instead of returning to prison. That will save the state $150 million through the 2004-05 fiscal year, Heimerich said. The savings could go higher if the department is able to close units or entire prisons. It will decide by the end of November whether to shut down the California Rehabilitation Center at Norco and is preparing other possibilities to be considered by incoming Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and the Legislature, Heimerich said. But the state's prisons are severely overcrowded, so that the reductions could merely mean more manageable and humane conditions in the 33 existing institutions. Likewise, the reduction in population may not trim the ranks of prison correctional officers, Heimerich said, because they have been working a huge amount of overtime. Still, it could reduce payroll costs. In 2002, the department spent about $255 million on overtime, he said. The California Correctional Peace Officers Association, a powerful political player, did not return a phone call seeking comment Wednesday. The prison population has been steadily rising for years, except for
a brief dip in 2001, and is currently about 161,000.
About the Writer
The Bee's John Hill can be reached at (916) 326-5543 or jhill@sacbee.com . |