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Still behind bars
Gov. Schwarzenegger's plan for prison reform includes most of the elements conventional wisdom would suggest to deal with California's prison overcrowding and recidivism crises. It could have been better if it had moved beyond conventional wisdom to consider the fundamental purposes of a system of criminal justice. California now houses about 174,000 prisoners in facilities designed for about 100,000 inmates, so many inmates sleep in facilities designed as gymnasiums or cafeterias. This overcrowding means rehabilitative programs are crowded out. Combined with sentencing laws patched together over the years, the troubling outcomes are that some who should be in prison for longer periods are released early, while some perpetrators of minor or victimless crimes serve overly long sentences. The governor proposes to build facilities housing 78,000 new beds – including 45,000 in local jails, where criminals with sentences three years and below can serve their time – and spend $1 billion to improve health care facilities. The proposal provides funds to implement Jessica's Law, passed in November, which would monitor sex offenders with GPS systems and restrictions on where they may live after serving their sentences. The proposal includes a Sentencing Commission, a 17-member panel to rethink California's jumble of sentences for various crimes. Its first assignment would be to reform the parole system. California is one of only two states where every offender is required to serve parole, which means parole officers must monitor a large population rather than focusing on those who might pose a larger threat to public safety. All this is to be financed by almost $11 billion in bonds – a big price tag – plus a token amount from the General Fund and $1.1 billion in local matching funds. Sentencing reform is a good start, but the governor made a mistake in declaring California's Three Strikes law off the table. Along with considering reform of drug laws, which make addicts who might benefit from medical attention the responsibility of the police and which have other deleterious side effects, reconsideration of what crimes merit lengthy incarceration would be part of a genuinely comprehensive reform program. The Orange County Register
http://www.times-standard.com/opinion/ci_4918595 The state system is about to collapse
That was the dire warning from 4th District Supervisor Bonnie Neely about California's prison system. Her concerns also strike close to home. A new plan to reform a suffering and overcrowded state prison system may have huge impacts on Humboldt and other counties throughout the state. Sheriff Gary Philp said part of the plan calls for county jails to house felons with three years or less to serve. With Humboldt County's correctional facility already hovering near its maximum capacity a lot of the time, such an additional burden could be a heavy one to bear. The plan for reform comes as California prisons become increasingly overcrowded, and legal challenges mount against the state. The state's prison population is now at 171,000 and growing fast. At the current rate, California would run out of room for new prisoners by next June. Neely said Humboldt County, the State Association of Counties, local elected officials and the governor's office all need to work together. While we join Neely in urging all departments, statewide and countywide, to work together to find solutions for our overcrowded jails and prisons, perhaps it is also time for all to work together to find ways to keep people out of jail. That may be a much tougher nut to crack. It will mean tackling the problems that lead to crime -- drugs, poverty, mental illness, to name just a few. Building more prisons, transferring prisoners to other states and other methods of dealing with prison populations is the Band-Aid approach. What is being done to prevent the crime from happening?
Prison overhaul has room for ValleySchwarzenegger's plans to alleviate
crowding add funding for county jails.
More informationPrison plan Gov. Schwarzenegger's $10.9 billion prison construction plan would be paid for mostly with lease revenue bonds. $5.5 billion for local jails and juvenile facilities: 45,000 jail beds and 5,000 juvenile beds. $4.4 billion for state prisons: 16,238 new beds, 5,000-7,000 re-entry facility beds, a training facility and a modernized death row at San Quentin state prison. $1 billion for inmate medical and mental health facilities.
SACRAMENTO — Gov. Schwarzenegger on Thursday unveiled his latest plan
to fix the state's prison overcrowding crisis: a $10.9 billion construction
proposal that could also help expand Fresno County's overstuffed jail.
"We can no longer tolerate a broken parole system, outmoded sentencing laws and prisons that are so overcrowded that rehabilitation programs are being squeezed out because of a lack of space," the governor said at a Capitol news conference. About $5.5 billion would be spent on county jails and local juvenile detention facilities. But the money comes with a catch: 25,000 of the 45,000 new local adult jail beds would be reserved for state inmates. Fresno County Assistant Sheriff Tom Gattie, who oversees the county jail system, welcomed the potential state money, but said the devil was in the details. If the state rushes inmates to local jails before expansions are complete, it will make matters worse, he said. "We're already painted into a corner, and I don't see how that really fixes our problem," he said. The county's four-jail system has hovered dangerously close to capacity this year, forcing the release of 15 inmates. Thursday afternoon, the 3,778-bed system was 88% full. The state's prisons are in equally dire straits. Squeezed into hallways, gymnasiums and lounges, about 174,000 inmates live in a 33-prison system designed for about 100,000. Schwarzenegger's plan would add space for 16,238 state inmates, build inmate medical and mental health facilities and construct "re-entry facilities" — centers designed to house inmates shortly before release. The San Joaquin Valley, home to about one-third of the state's prisons, would be a likely target for some new construction. Similar proposals died last legislative session as Democrats criticized them for not including structural sentencing and parole reforms. The governor looks to be addressing Democratic concerns with the proposed sentencing commission, a 17-member body that would make sentencing guideline recommendations. But Republicans gave the commission idea a lukewarm response. "If the sentencing commission is about early release, than we're against it and we'll argue against it," said Assembly Republican Leader Mike Villines, R-Clovis. At this point, it's not clear how much state money could be headed to Fresno County, should Schwarzenegger's plan pass the Legislature. Nick Warner, a lobbyist for the California State Sheriff's Association and the Chief Probation Officers of California, estimated that the county could get up to 7% of the money, or about $385 million. "Fresno's definitely one of our most glaring problem counties," he said. The county is in the midst of hiring a firm to review expansion needs. Gattie estimated that up to 5,000 new prison beds will be needed by 2020. County supervisors were encouraged by the governor's plan, but wanted to make sure enough state money would be set aside for operational costs. "Certainly if the state is going to help build ... that's good news," said Supervisor Henry Perea. In Tulare County, the plan's potential benefits are less clear. The county was forced to release 2,100 inmates prematurely in 2005. But the problem has more to do with finding operational money than building new jails, said Tulare County Sheriff's Department Capt. Kevin Mizner. The situation at county jails could get worse in a hurry. Federal judges are considering several requests by inmate rights groups to cap the state's prison population. Even without the cap, the state's prisons will be out of space by the summer, officials have said. The upshot: more prisoners in local jails. "The concern we have," Mizner said, "is when the state prison system
gets full and puts up the no vacancy sign, there will be a backlog of prisoners
that will wait in our jails until they can be moved to a state prison."
December 11, 2006
Now, with the November election behind them, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and state lawmakers from both parties say the time is ripe for the first major overhaul of the system since the 1970s. Mr. Schwarzenegger, a Republican who easily won re-election, recently took the extraordinary step of declaring a state of emergency in the prison system, a move generally reserved for areas hit by natural disasters. James E. Tilton, appointed in September by Mr. Schwarzenegger as the secretary of the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, described the prison system as a “powder keg” at risk of exploding. “If you look at the characteristics of other states that have riots, we have an environment that is rife with the same,” said Mr. Tilton, who had been the acting secretary since April. The creation of new prisons seems likely, but the governor and lawmakers are also seriously contemplating broad changes to the parole system and the establishment of a sentencing guidelines commission — anathema to some just a year ago — like those used by other states to reduce overcrowding and its costs. “The November election is over, and that is critical in terms of the politics of prison reform,” said the State Senate majority leader, Gloria Romero, Democrat of Los Angeles. “The governor is particularly looking at his legacy, and I do not believe he can have a positive one if he does not solve the prison crisis.” Overcrowding is so severe that 16,000 inmates are assigned cots in hallways and gyms; last month, the state began asking for volunteers to be moved to prisons out of state. The system’s medical program is in federal receivership and much of the rest of the system is under court monitoring. Cellblocks are teeming with violence. Seven of 10 inmates released from prison return, one of the highest rates in the country. The state has the largest number of parole absconders, roughly 20 percent. Life for corrections officers has become so miserable, their union says, that there are nearly 4,000 vacancies. In May, just after Mr. Tilton started work, a corrections officer was held hostage for 10 hours by an inmate with a knife to her throat. Like so many things in California, the scope of the prison problem stems largely from its size. The system houses 173,000 inmates — second-place Texas has 152,500 — and has an $8 billion budget. Its population explosion is in large part an outgrowth of a general increase in the state’s population, its unusual sentencing structure and parole system, a legislature historically enamored with increasing penalties, and ballot measures like the three-strikes initiative. Further, most rehabilitation programs have been eliminated from the system in recent years, which some criminal justice experts believe has increased the rate of recidivism. Some experts also argue that a legislature bound by term limits has created an expertise vacuum on the complex and emotional issue of prison sentencing. Under laws passed in the 1970s, ironclad sentences for crimes are set by the legislature, with little discretion left to judges. Looked at simply, people sentenced to prison for three years get out in three years, whether they have behaved, gone to school or stared at the wall. Once out, prisoners are assigned to parole and can be sent back to prison for automatic sentences for technical or criminal violations. “All of these things lead to this incredible overcrowded prison system,” said Barry Krisberg, president of the National Council on Crime and Delinquency. Changes to the system have been akin to peace in the Middle East — everyone agrees on the outcome, but there has been great debate over its path. The corrections officers union, among the state’s most powerful, has been historically resistant to reducing the prison population. Conservative lawmakers and the governor have resisted any change that smacks of sentence reduction, and their liberal counterparts have been loath to be tarred as soft on crime. But a consensus has been building over the last six months, with union officials, the governor, public policy experts and many members of the legislature agreeing that a sentencing commission is in order. Sentencing commissions, made up of a diverse group of experts including former judges and crime victim advocates, essentially treat prison beds as scarce resources that need to be properly allocated. Used in many states, the commissions, armed with empirical data, establish sentencing grids, with the offense on one axis and the offender’s history on another, forming a narrow range of possible sentences. These grids are presented to judges, who have discretion to go outside the range in light of extenuating circumstances. One of the system’s greatest advantages, its proponents suggest, is that it depoliticizes sentencing by taking it out of the hands of elected officials. Under a sentencing commission, a parole system can also be altered, placing, for instance, violent offenders under intense supervision after their release, and offering nonviolent offenders a chance at early parole. “The way our current system works, all you have is sticks,” said Joan Petersilia, director of the new Center for Evidence-Based Corrections at the University of California, Irvine, and one of the state’s leading experts on prisons. “But we want to give carrots, too,” Professor Petersilia said. “If in fact you can show us stable housing and drug treatment program for six months, you are off parole. The benefit of that is self-selection. Inmates who are low risk and who are motivated will do it, and then we reduce caseload size and let officers target very violent offenders.” The best commissions, criminal justice experts agree, are those in which violent criminals spend more time behind bars than they did before the commission’s creation, and nonviolent offenders are placed in treatment programs, county jails or other alternatives, paid for in part by the savings accrued from not having them in prison. Mr. Tilton said that in addition to such a commission, the system would require more prison beds, so prisoners would not be housed in gyms and classrooms and those areas could be used once again for programs to prepare offenders for life outside prison. These changes have the support of the California Correctional Peace Officers Association, which has regarded the governor warily. “I am tired of my profession being categorized as a failure when our success is judged on the success of people who everyone else failed with,” said Lance Corcoran, a spokesman for the association. Not everyone is convinced. “If sentencing commission is a code word for shortening terms, I am against it,” said George Runner, the State Senate Republican caucus chairman. “It is an interesting discussion, but it cannot be had until we create more beds and have a parole re-entry program that works.” The California District Attorneys Association also regards sentencing commissions with suspicion and will not support a law that does not increase sentences for some offenders. Those who think a sentencing commission is an antonym for law and order “should look carefully at the statistics in a state like North Carolina,” said Tom Ross, the former chairman of that state’s sentencing commission, widely regarded as one of the most successful in the nation. “Violent and career offenders serve nearly twice as much time as they did before the commission,” Mr. Ross said, while low-level offenders are sent elsewhere. “What it resulted in here was a substantial reduction in the incarceration rate.”
Robert K. Ross: Prison reform must include the inmates
What is truly needed is a commitment from the state to focus on rehabilitating the prisoners, not just the prison system. The reason is obvious: Although the state is charged with handling California's prisoners, the impacts of the failing system weigh most heavily on municipalities, which bear the brunt of thousands of ex-inmates who commit new crimes and go back into the corrections system. In 2005, more than 120,000 inmates were released on parole from California prisons, while more than 81,000 of them were returned to prison for violating the conditions of their parole. Many are homeless, uneducated, unskilled and lacking family support. A significant number are battling alcohol and/or substance abuse issues. When faced with trying to find a job and an apartment and staying clean, it is no wonder many slide back onto the criminal conveyor belt that will deliver them back to prison. Some ex-convicts say it's ironic that the state's recidivism problem has been described as a revolving door. Ex-convicts will tell you it's really a locked door. Sure, the state will let them out of prison after time served. But will society let them back in? If state officials were to look around, they would realize there are local programs that offer proven models for addressing this problem. One promising approach is United African American Ministerial Action Council's Community Re-entry Program in southwestern San Diego. UAAMAC has enlisted five churches to provide health education and employment assistance to returning prisoners in the area. Congregation members help to create opportunities for ex-offenders to establish or rebuild connections with families and social support networks to support their transition back into the community. Another example is Second Chance, a San Diego-based nonprofit that teaches ex-inmates how to find and keep jobs, and sends its employees into prisons to recruit inmates who are nearing parole. Those who qualify are picked up at the prison gate on release day, provided with alcohol- and drug-free housing and enrolled in a three-week intensive course to learn life skills and job-readiness skills. Participants are also provided mental-health counseling, case management and job-placement services for up to two years. The results are encouraging. According to a recent study performed by California State University, San Marcos and funded by The California Endowment, only 30 percent of Second Chance graduates recommit crimes or violate their parole and go back to prison within two years, compared with nearly 70 percent of all parolees statewide. About 80 percent of Second Chance graduates find jobs, most of them paying well above the minimum wage. And 80 percent of this group will maintain employment after two years. The data show that this model helps to equip ex-offenders with the tools, attitude and motivation necessary to overcome the stigma and related obstacles involved with having a criminal record. If this model could be replicated on a larger scale, it could potentially save the state millions of dollars. For example, it costs the state about $36,000 to incarcerate a prisoner each year, yet it costs only a small fraction of that, about $4,000 a year, to teach parolees life skills and job-readiness skills. The Legislature is to be commended for creating a pilot program for prisoner rehabilitation in San Diego. But much more will be needed to put a serious dent in the problem on a statewide level. During the recent special Legislative session on prison reform, while our representatives debated how many more prisons to build and how many more temporary beds could be stuffed into gymnasiums, Second Chance was planning how to mark an important milestone: Its 100th class teaching ex-inmates job-readiness skills and life skills. That class graduated Oct. 20. As long as the state focuses on prison reform, and not reforming the
prisoners, the problems of recidivism and overcrowding will persist.
FILLED TO CAPACITY: Inmates housed inside the Reception Center Central at the California Institution for Men in Chino Hills pass the day by sleeping, watching television or playing cards. The unit, known as The Gym, has 213 inmates, its capacity. LEONARD ORTIZ, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Sunday, December 3, 2006 Locked into problems Governor, Legislature, prison guards and inmates all have different
priorities and suggestions.
Already, lawsuits against the system have given the federal government power over its health services – and the authority to spend state money on those needs. Some fear a full-scale federal takeover could be in the works if no fix is found. The governor this summer called a special legislative session to address the crisis. But lawmakers didn't act. As the new legislative session begins, an overhaul is high on the governor and Legislature's list of priorities. But will they and the system's other major players agree on what to do? The governor: More prisons, rehabilitation Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signaled his priorities when he changed the name of the Department of Corrections to the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. Drug treatment and job training are a big part of his vision. But he says rehabilitation is impossible if prisons stay crowded. Spokesman Adam Mendelson said the governor plans to reintroduce several of his ideas for alleviating the crisis, but he wants to hear new ones, too. Schwarzenegger has said he opposes sentencing changes that weaken the state's mandatory "three strikes" law, but he's told lawmakers to bring forward such ideas anyway because he wants everything on the table. For the special session, Schwarzenegger proposed a $6 billion plan to build facilities. The Senate approved a scaled-down version, but the Assembly never voted on it. One idea sure to reappear is small, community re-entry facilities to which inmates would move in the final days before their parole into that area. Inmates would start receiving counseling while still incarcerated and would continue with the same program – even the same counselor – when they're released. Corrections Secretary James Tilton said the plan would give inmates more stability and provide for a smoother transition into the community. The hard part is selling cities and towns on having small prison-like facilities in their area, he said. The Legislature: Sentencing change, no new prisons
"If we have a prison crisis, we have to address who is going to prison and for how long," said Senate Majority Leader Gloria Romero, D-Los Angeles. "We are not going to build ourselves out of this crisis," she said. Romero said the state needs to consider amending the three strikes law and reducing the number of parolees sent back to prison on technical violations such as missing an appointment or failing a drug test. A legislative leader on prison issues, Romero is also pushing the idea of a sentencing commission to recommend changes. She envisions an independent body of experts, not a committee of lawmakers. Republicans oppose talk of sentencing changes. They say letting criminals out early would endanger the public. They're also skeptical of the Democrats' willingness to negotiate. Assemblyman Todd Spitzer, R-Orange, said he believes Democrats have no intention of developing a solution because they want the prison system to fail. The thinking goes that if changes fail this year, the entire prison system – not just its health system – could end up in the hands of a court receiver. If so, the receiver would have virtually unlimited authority, including the power to release prisoners early. "I'm absolutely convinced that the reason we didn't get prison reform is because the agenda is to have a receiver take over the prison system," Spitzer said. Republicans say the solution is to house more prisoners, not let them go. Prison guards: New prisons, new designs
Spokesman Lance Corcoran said the state's 33 prisons do exactly what they were designed to do: safely house a large number of inmates with minimal staff. California prisons have among the highest prisoner-to-staff ratios in the country. They don't have the kind of standoffs or riots seen in other states. But they weren't designed for rehabilitation. If that's the goal, Corcoran said, prisons need to provide for more interaction between staff members and inmates. They need more room for counseling and job training. "If you wanted to rehab people, you should have been looking at the physical plant," Corcoran said. The association, a union of about 34,000 prison guards and related professionals, wields incredible influence in Sacramento. The group is credited with helping defeat Schwarzenegger's special election initiatives in 2005 and routinely is among the state's biggest campaign contributors. Corcoran said the association supports formation of a sentencing commission and is open to sentencing changes, but has yet to see a proposal it likes. The inmates: Sentencing and parole overhaul
Donald Specter, director of the Prison Law Office, which represents
California inmates in several high-profile lawsuits, said sentencing and
parole overhaul is vital to solving the prison crisis.
Courts play key role in prison changes
Here are the most significant legal issues facing the system: Population caps Issue: Inmates in November filed court papers asking the federal government to limit the number of new convicts admitted to state prisons until the population declines, arguing that crowding violates the Eighth Amendment's statute on cruel and unusual punish-ment. Status: The issue will be heard this month. Out-of-state transfers Issue: The governor declared a prison crowding emergency in October. The state signed contracts to move 2,260 prisoners to private facilities in four states by early 2007, and 80 were flown to Tennessee in November. The state estimates moving inmates now will buy a year before it runs out of space. Status: Inmates and state employees unions have sued to stop the transfers. The case is pending. Health care Issue: A 2001 class action lawsuit blamed the prison health care system for the injury and death of inmates. Because the state failed to correct the problem, U.S. District Judge Thelton Henderson in February appointed a receiver to oversee the prison health care system. The receiver has broad powers outside the budget process to spend money and hire staff members. Status: The receiver forced the state to raise pay for prison doctors and last month threatened to seize state money. 'Code of silence' Issue: Henderson appointed a special master to see whether a "code of silence" keeps prison guards from testifying against each other in cases of inmate abuse. The appointment stems from a 1990 case about violence at Pelican Bay. Status: The special master is looking into whether two prison officials' resignations were motivated by administration officials' going over their heads to negotiate directly with the California Correctional Peace Officers Association. Mental health care Issue: In the mid-1990s, U.S. District Judge Lawrence Karlton ruled the state violated the Eighth Amendment by failing to provide adequate mental health care. Karlton appointed a special master to watch as the state reworked the prison mental-health system. Status: After a decade, the courts are not satisfied the state provides adequate care. Parole Issue: Karlton in 2005 appointed a special master to oversee parole changes after the state abruptly dropped programs to divert parole violators to community-based treatment instead of prison. Status: The special master continues to monitor parole revisions. As part of a settlement, the state agreed to appoint attorneys for parolees and stick to a strict hearing schedule. Sources: Orange County Register archives; The Associated Press; court papers; Bill Sessa, spokesman for the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation; Donald Specter, director of the Prison Law Office
Increasing prison population strains sewage treatment Wednesday, November 29, 2006 By Judie Marks The population of inmates at Mule Creek State Prison continues to increase, putting even more pressure on an already overstrained sewage treatment plant at the facility. Ione City Councilman Jerry Sherman told the Amador County Board of Supervisors last Tuesday that the population is continuing to climb. In the coming rainy season, he said, the prison cannot use the spray fields to dispose of their secondary treated wastewater, and the city's treatment plant will be unable to accept much of the flow because of its own problems with storage. "It's going to go down the creek because they have no storage for it," Sherman said, adding, "We need to monitor those creeks." The supervisors were told that the number of prisoners reached 4,019 last week, though the prison was designed for only 1,700. Mule Creek Warden Rosanne Campbell said she was going to try to bring the prison population down, Sherman said, "but she has no control over how many people they bring there." County Administrative Officer Pat Blacklock said Carlton Engineering, a consulting firm hired by the county, is continuing to gather more data and will collect additional ground water samples in an attempt to pinpoint the source of nitrates detected in a couple of private wells in the area. Blacklock suggested that the county might band together with other counties such as Lassen that are also experiencing the pressure of prison expansion. Supervisor Richard Forster said the only problem with working through the Regional Council of Rural Counties is that some of the counties where prisons are located are less interested in the increasing numbers of prisoners being shipped to them. They are primarily interested, he said, in mitigating the effects of those prisoners. "We want both," Forster said. In response to Forster's concerns, County Counsel John Hahn said that, "As far as moving to stop more inmates from coming to Mule Creek, I don't see how the county has standing to do that other than through the sanitation issue." Hahn told Forster that the Regional Water Quality Control Board is the main regulator that can control the prison population, "unless this board wants to engage in litigation with the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. And that would be protracted." If contamination is clear from samples being taken, Forster said the county needs to seriously consider litigation. Gene Riddle of Ione told the supervisors that if the Regional Water Quality Control Board issues the expected cease and desist order at their December meeting, Mule Creek State Prison "will have to stop taking prisoners." He also asked Forster if other neighboring landowners had allowed their private wells to be tested for potential contamination. Forster replied that while one more had been tested, another landowner declined to have his well tested. Jim Scully of Ione, who called himself "a very frustrated neighbor to Mule Creek and to the city of Ione," handed the supervisors each a thick sheaf of papers consisting of a contract that the county, the city of Ione and the Amador County Unified School District signed with the state Department of Corrections in 1985, as well as a 1994 ruling on that contract from an Amador County Superior Court judge. In the contract, the state agrees that if the Department of Corrections builds a prison for 1,700 inmates, and allows it to house a population of up to 3,200 inmates with overcrowding, the county, city and school district would agree "not to file any action to stop construction of the prison other than an action based on breach or nonperformance of any duty set forth herein." Originally, as noted in the contract, the prison was to be built for 1,200 beds. The state apparently sought the contract because it wanted support from the city, county and school district to get special legislation to exempt the prison from review under the California Environmental Quality Act. "The Department (of Corrections) shall timely carry out and implement completely all of the conditions and mitigation measures in the Amended Statement of Findings attached hereto," according to the contract. In that Amended Statement of Findings, the state Department of Corrections agrees that it will "construct a new sewage treatment plant capable of treating effluent to secondary and tertiary levels of treatment." Tertiary treated sewage is sewage that has been treated to a level adequate for discharge into creeks or use for irrigation without fear of contamination. In 1994, according to the second document Scully presented to the Board of Supervisors, the city of Ione took the state to court for failure to live up to that contract in regards to the number and "level" of prisoners housed at the Mule Creek State Prison. In a "tentative decision" signed by Superior Court Judge Horace Cecchettini, the judge held that by reclassifying one part of the prison from a Level III to a Level IV prison, and in exceeding the 3,200 inmate limitation, the state had violated the contract. The contract, the judge said, "could hardly have been made clearer." The state's representations in the contract about the type of prisoners, the number of beds and the population, the judge said, "were, in fact, promises." Judge Cecchettini ruled that the contract is valid and enforceable. "This is a legal lever to bring the state to the table and negotiate for a tertiary plant," Scully told the supervisors. However, he said, "I understand there is reluctance from the city of Ione and Amador County to take this action." Carefully couching his words to let the supervisors know that "This is not a threat," he said that his attorney had advised him that when the contract was signed, it committed the city, the county and the school district to guarantee those conditions were met. "If it's not enforced, then these agencies failed as guardians and protectors and can become liable," Scully told the supervisors. "I am advising you there is a bear in the woods," he said. "You must become conscious of it." However, Hahn advised the supervisors that they had no liability in the non-enforcement of the contract. "There is no bear in the woods," he said, adding that a tertiary treatment plant would only be required if the prison planned to dispose of treated effluent into surface water. "It's going to be hard to enforce breach of a 20-year-old contract," Hahn told the supervisors, adding later that the question was not a matter of the age of the contract, but the age of the breaching of that contract.
No room at the prison inn
IMAGINE this scenario. California public schools become overcrowded to twice their capacity, reaching a point where little actual instruction is possible, and the health and safety of students and school personnel are threatened. The governor declares an education emergency, and starts ordering schools to send students to neighboring school districts which have space to admit them -- regardless of the quality of the education they provide. You can be sure that there would be a statewide response to deal with the emergency. Yet an equally desperate situation has emerged in our state prisons, which were built to house 85,546 inmates, but as of last week were crammed with 168,832 of them. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has declared a prison emergency, charging that the prison system presents a "substantial risk to the health and safety of staff, inmates and the public." For the first time, he has begun shipping inmates to prisons outside California. But our prisons remain dangerously overcrowded. "Prison and jail cells are a scarce resource, and decision-makers have to get used to the fact that there aren't enough of them to house everyone in California that district attorneys and judges want to send there," said Don Specter, executive director of the Prison Law Office. This week, the Prison Law Office filed motions asking several federal judges to impose a "population cap" on how many inmates the state prison system would be permitted to admit. It's an idea worth exploring. In a recent interview, even Schwarzenegger's corrections chief, Jim Tilton, implied that the prison-crowding crisis might force him to simply refuse to take additional inmates, which he is permitted to do under California law. "I'd have to say (to county officials), 'I don't have a bed yet, I'll call you when I have a vacant bed.' In the meantime, that person stays in county jail," he said. The state would be compelled to pay for the jail-space rental. A far better approach than putting up a "no vacancy" sign would be to restrict admission to inmates who truly present a risk to public safety. The state prison system simply doesn't have the capacity to house tens of thousands of nonviolent inmates, who have been returned to expensive prison cells for technical violations of the terms of their parole. If it takes a court order to force our elected officials to figure out that simple math, so be it.
State inmate limit sought
With Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and the Legislature coming up empty on relieving prison overcrowding, inmate rights lawyers Monday petitioned federal courts in Sacramento and San Francisco to impose a population cap as the fastest and surest way to stem the system's burgeoning crisis. The attorneys insisted that their motion for the population limit, if it is approved, would not amount to an early release program. But a spokesman for the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation characterized it as such and said the prison agency will contest the action. Coming in the middle of a program to ship inmates to private, out-of-state prisons, the attorneys said the legal actions amounted to a last resort on their part to force the state to comply with a federal court order to fix medical care in California's 33 prisons and to meet its mandate in another class- action case to better treat and classify mentally ill inmates. The only way to get right with the courts on mental health and medical care, the lawyers said in interviews and in court papers, is to reduce the prison population. "My clients are suffering and dying under these conditions," said Michael Bien, the plaintiffs' lawyer in the mental health suit. "We can't wait any longer." His motion said 37 inmates committed suicide in California prisons this year. Corrections spokesman Bill Sessa said that problems in mental health and medical delivery in the prisons go way beyond population. He acknowledged, however, that prison overcrowding "has a number of detrimental consequences" and "that's why we've been taking so many steps to relieve it," including the out-of-state transfer program in which 80 inmates have already been shipped to Tennessee. The state is seeking more than 2,200 such transfers, with the next ones scheduled to take place as soon as next week. One thing the administration is not interested in is lawsuits that propose population caps, and Sessa said he fully expects the state's attorneys to contest the motions sought by the inmate rights lawyers. "I'm sure we will," Sessa said. "We've never endorsed the early release of criminals." The motions filed in the courtrooms of U.S. District Judges Lawrence Karlton in Sacramento and Thelton Henderson in San Francisco are asking for the appointment of a three-judge panel that would take up the issue of the population cap under the federal Prison Litigation and Reform Act. The motions are expected to be heard on Dec. 11. Barry Krisberg, president of the National Council on Crime and Delinquency, called the population cap a "temporary emergency measure." He said the most likely reduction strategy would focus on cutting down the number of technical parole violators being reincarcerated. Increasing good behavior credits and shortening prison terms by a month on the least serious offenders scheduled for release are other potential means for the state to get under a cap, he said. "Until such time that we roll up our sleeves and reform the parole and sentencing systems, this might return a modicum of safety to prisons and the people who have to work in them," said Krisberg, a court-appointed expert on correctional issues who has studied population caps. Schwarzenegger sought to propel prison overcrowding to the top of the Legislature's agenda over the summer when he called for a special session to tackle the issue. But his proposals to stem the problem -- including more prison construction -- were first heavily modified and then outright rejected. The governor then issued a proclamation declaring a prison overcrowding emergency on Oct. 4, saying there were 4,313 inmate assaults and batteries in the prisons last year, including 1,671 on the staff. The proclamation set the table for his out-of-state transfer plan. In their papers filed Monday, the plaintiffs' lawyers did not spell out a firm population cap figure. California's prison population, stood at 173,462 as of midnight Nov. 1 -- and, since Oct. 25, has officially exceeded 200 percent of capacity in the 33 institutions. One of their motions, however, quoted from a 2004 report issued by the Schwarzenegger- appointed California Independent Review Panel that said the "maximum safe and reasonable capacity" for male prisoners in the state is 137,764. With 161,652 men in the system as of Nov. 1, the panel's figures would appear to suggest a reduction of about 24,000 male inmates is in order. But Donald Specter, the head of the Prison Law Office, which filed the suit that led to the appointment last year of a receiver to oversee the prison health care system, said the motions are not designed to act as an early- release mechanism. "The main culprit in the equation is the parole violators," Specter said. "That's the thing you could do the quickest, safest and easiest, without even a change of law." Monday's filings gained support from the California Correctional Peace Officers Association, whose vice president, Chuck Alexander, said "we can't get the mission accomplished" with the current population and that the plaintiffs' actions would mean "relief for my members." State Sen. Gloria Romero, D-Los Angeles, a longtime legislative prison oversight specialist, said the population cap "affords us an immediate and real opportunity to evaluate who belongs in the prison system and to jump-start parole reform."
Inmates sue to limit state prison populations
November 14, 2006 SACRAMENTO — Five weeks after Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger declared a state of emergency in California's jampacked prison system, inmates went to court Monday to limit new admissions until the population declines. In legal papers filed in Sacramento and San Francisco, lawyers for the convicts said only a population cap imposed by a federal court would remedy prison conditions that amount to unconstitutional cruel and unusual punishment. Among the symptoms revealing a prison system in distress, the lawyers said, are a "skyrocketing" number of inmates seeking treatment for mental disorders and an inmate suicide rate that is twice the national average, with 37 convicts taking their lives behind bars this year." "Court intervention is necessary because this state has simply been unable to take any meaningful action to resolve the prison overcrowding crisis," said Donald Specter, director of the nonprofit Prison Law Office, which filed one of the motions. The Legislature's failure to act during a recent special session on prison crowding, Specter added, was final proof of government's refusal to address a teeming, violent system packed to twice its intended capacity. Attorneys said that for now, they are not pushing for a court-ordered release of inmates to thin the population. Instead, they suggest diverting certain low-risk convicts, especially parole violators, away from prison and sanctioning them in the community. Nearly 21,000 parole violators are in state lockups, serving terms rarely lasting more than six months. Many, Specter argued, are imprisoned on relatively minor violations and could be punished through home detention or electronic monitoring or sent to residential drug treatment programs. The legal action follows Schwarzenegger's declaration that conditions in California's $8.6-billion correctional system have created a health risk and "extreme peril" for officers and inmates. Crowding is so severe, the governor said, that it has overwhelmed water, sewer and electrical systems at some prisons and fueled hundreds of riots, melees and smaller disturbances in the last year. Schwarzenegger issued his emergency decree in part to give him legal authority to ship thousands of inmates to prisons in other states. That process began earlier this month, when 80 inmates were flown to a private facility in Tennessee. Contracts to house 2,200 more convicts in other states have been signed, and corrections officials are canvassing the population for more volunteers. If they do not reach their target of 5,000 felons who volunteer to be transferred, officials said, the moves would become mandatory. Bill Sessa, spokesman for the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, acknowledged Monday that overcrowding is a problem but said prison leaders are addressing it. Sessa said officials would return to the Legislature in January with plans to add beds at existing prisons, build community reentry facilities and take other measures to create space. Sessa expressed skepticism about any proposal to divert parole violators away from prison to cut the incoming population: "These people don't go back to prison for a trivial reason, contrary to popular myth," he said. The legal motions were filed Monday before two federal judges handling ongoing class-action lawsuits over prison medical care and mental health treatment. The motions ask that a three-judge panel be convened to weigh the proposed population cap, a step mandated under the Prison Litigation Reform Act passed by Congress in 1995. Although county jails have often been subject to court-imposed caps, it is rare for an entire prison system to be subject to such a limit, experts said. The legal papers suggest the population should range from 111,300 to 138,000. It numbers 173,000. "Ideally, you want to see the executive branch bring this under control on their own steam," said Michael Jacobson, author of the book "Downsizing Prisons" and the former commissioner of corrections and probation in New York City. "But this could be a catalyst to spur California to undertake some serious, systemic reform, which it clearly needs to do." Lawyers seeking the action say the governor's declaration of an emergency lays out a solid foundation for a population cap. They also note that the federal receiver appointed this year to take over the disgraced prison healthcare system, Robert Sillen, has said overcrowding may make his court-ordered task of improving medical care to constitutional standards impossible. That statement could further influence judges evaluating the request, the lawyers said. Over the last 25 years, the California prison population has grown by more than 500% and the system has expanded from 12 penitentiaries to 33. Projections show that 23,000 more convicts will be added within five years, bringing the incarcerated total to 193,000. More than 15,000 inmates are housed in areas not designed as sleeping quarters, including hallways and gymnasiums. About 1,500 are sleeping in triple-decker bunks. In their legal papers, lawyers said the crowding has caused many prisons to operate on continual "lockdown" status, meaning that a "shockingly high" percentage of inmates are confined to their cells around the clock. While on lockdown, prisoners do not receive therapy, recreation time, educational programs or other services and are released only for an occasional shower. Concerns about crowding are not limited to California and are not new. In 2004, an independent review panel appointed by Schwarzenegger and led by former Gov. George Deukmejian concluded that crowding was at the root of the system's myriad problems. "The key to reforming the system," the commission wrote, "lies in reducing the numbers." Since then, the population has increased by nearly 10,000 prisoners. And new laws toughening criminal penalties — including Proposition 83, which passed last week and lengthens prison terms for sex offenders — will intensify the growth. On Monday, a second lawsuit was filed to block enforcement of Proposition 83. Filed in federal court in Los Angeles by a sex offender on parole, the suit says the measure is an unconstitutional invasion of privacy because it requires ex-offenders to undergo electronic monitoring for life. Forcing sex offenders to wear tracking bracelets on their ankles equates to "a badge of shame, a scarlet letter, that guarantees a life as a pariah," said the lawsuit, filed anonymously to protect the plaintiff's safety. A separate suit, filed last week in San Francisco, has temporarily blocked enforcement of another provision of the initiative that bans ex-offenders from living within 2,000 feet of a school or park. A federal court hearing on that suit is scheduled for the end of the month.
Judges OK transfer of prisoners out of state
SACRAMENTO - California is poised to start shipping inmates to other states as a way to relieve its overcrowded prisons after federal and state judges on Thursday rejected efforts to block the transfers. A federal judge in Oakland and a Sacramento County judge ruled separately against requests for temporary restraining orders barring the transfers. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger last month ordered the moves, which would send 2,260 inmates to privately run prisons in Arizona, Indiana, Oklahoma and Tennessee. It is not know how many, if any, inmates might be moved from the California Medical Facility and California State Prison, Solano, in Vacaville. The California Correctional Peace Officers Association and the Service Employees International Union challenged the policy in state court, asking for a temporary halt to the transfers. They said the transfers violate the state Constitution because they sidestep California's civil service system and the usual contracting procedures. Schwarzenegger's declaration let the state sign no-bid contracts to send inmates to prisons run by GEO Group Inc. of Florida and Tennessee-based Correctional Corporation of America. If the transfers were prohibited, prison overcrowding could force the early release of some inmates, said Deputy Attorney General Vickie Whitney, arguing on behalf of the administration. "We don't want inmates out in the general population simply because our prisons are overcrowded," Whitney told Sacramento County Superior Court Judge Patrick Marlette. Marlette decided that the state's 45,000 prison guards and other employees will suffer no irreversible harm if the inmates are moved. He set a Nov. 22 hearing to consider arguments over whether the administration is acting illegally. The San Francisco-based Prison Law Office filed a separate lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Oakland. It argued that the transfers violate the Americans with Disabilities Act because the terms of the private prison contracts prohibit California from sending disabled inmates. Judge Claudia Wilken rejected that argument Thursday but allowed the organization to pursue its case at a later hearing, said Don Specter, director of the law office. A third challenge to the transfers was filed in U.S. District Court in Sacramento. San Francisco attorney Michael Bien argues that the transfers violate the rights of mentally ill inmates because they might not receive appropriate care in the private prisons. The governor's administration is confident it is acting legally and that the transfers will survive the upcoming legal challenges, said Bill Sessa, a spokesman for Schwarzenegger's Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. "We have every intention of continuing with our plan," Sessa said. "We do think it's in the best interest of public safety." The inmates transferred out of state will be replaced by other inmates coming into the California prison system. The projected cost to the state is $51 million a year. Court documents filed in federal court in Sacramento state that the first 80 inmates are scheduled to be flown to Tennessee today. Sessa said he could not confirm the details for security reasons.
State to move first inmates
The first transfers of California inmates to private, out-of-state prisons are scheduled to take place next month under two no-bid contracts the overstuffed Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation signed Friday. Under the deals worked out with the GEO Group and the Corrections Corporation of America, the state will move 2,260 inmates out of its jampacked prisons over the next 120 days to private institutions in Indiana, Arizona, Oklahoma and Tennessee. Corrections officials say the separate deals will help stem its emergency overcrowding crisis, but union officials opposed to the transfers contend they will undermine public accountability and shift responsibility for the tough business of prison administration to profit-driven corporate boardrooms. Scott Kernan, deputy director of the prison agency's division of adult institutions, said officials eventually hope to transfer as many as 5,000 California inmates on a voluntary basis to private facilities in other states. He said the state will force inmates onto planes for the out-of-state trips if it has to, but that he expects more than enough prisoners to volunteer for the transfers and forestall the likelihood of a lawsuit designed to stop the mandatory movements. "I'm firmly set in my belief that it's going to catch fire, and we're going to have more inmates wanting to go than we're going to select," Kernan said. At the Greyhound bus terminal in downtown Sacramento on Friday, Charles Thomas, who had just paroled out of the Deuel Vocational Institution in Tracy, said most of the inmates he's spoken to are not keen on the idea of transferring out of state. "The state needs to explain to people thoroughly what they're getting into before they sign their life away," said Thomas, 60, who was in on a 90-day parole violation stemming from an underlying petty theft-with-a-prior conviction. "They think it's going to be a piece of cake." Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger declared a state of emergency in the prison system earlier this month as a result of an overcrowding crisis in which 173,000 inmates are packed into prison space designed for half that number. The emergency declaration followed a failure by the Legislature to take any action during a special session called over the summer by Schwarzenegger to ease the overcrowding situation. More than 16,000 California prisoners are now sleeping in gyms and day rooms, some of them in triple-tiered bunks. Corrections Secretary Jim Tilton has warned that the state will have to stop accepting inmates next summer if it can't find more bed space in the interim. Friday's contracts will send 1,260 medium-security inmates to the GEO Group's New Castle Correctional Facility in Indiana and 1,000 more to four CCA prisons -- the Florence Detention Center in Arizona, the North Fork and Diamondback correctional facilities in Oklahoma and the West Tennessee Detention Facility. GEO, based in Boca Raton, Fla., will be paid $28.7 million a year under the three-year contract. CCA, with headquarters in Nashville, Tenn., will receive $22.9 million a year. The contracts average out to $63 a day per inmate -- not counting the transportation cost -- compared with the $90 average to house a prisoner every day in California. "They've been in the business a long time, and they're successfully operating prisons throughout the country," Kernan said of GEO and CCA. "We sent staff to do a security inspection and evaluation of all of these facilities, and the response is almost uniformly that they're very well-run prisons. "They're clean, they're not overcrowded, there are programming activities at all of the prisons, and their cultures are very safe and very positive," Kernan added. Newspaper reports compiled on a Web site run by the Private Corrections Institute in Florida paint a different picture of the CCA prisons, however. The stories cited riots and inmate drug dealing at Diamondback, more violence and drug issues at Florence, inmate complaints over phone rates at North Fork and the unexplained death of a prisoner at West Tennessee. Similar reports could also be found every month in California's prisons, said CCA spokeswoman Louise Gilchrist, adding that no state has ever terminated a contract with the company as a result of any of the problems. "We know that incidents occur at any facility, but we believe that the mark of a strong correctional provider is how you respond to them," Gilchrist said. "We certainly have an excellent record of experience in meeting our customers' needs." California Correctional Peace Officers Association spokesman Lance Corcoran said all prisons "have their share of calamity," but that the issue comes down to who should ultimately shoulder responsibility for it. "Do you want the Legislature and the taxpayers standing behind the individuals who are charged with the deprivation of liberty of their fellow citizens, or do you want individuals who represent a corporate board of directors?" Corcoran asked.
Friday, October 20, 2006
SACRAMENTO – As many as 2,260 California inmates will be temporarily moved to private prisons in four other states beginning next month in a bid to ease overcrowding, state corrections officials announced today. The move comes after the state signed a three-year contract Thursday with two private firms running prison facilities in Indiana, Arizona, Oklahoma and Tennessee. The cost per inmate is $63 per inmate per day, excluding transportation, for a total of $52 million a year, the officials said. More contracts are expected in the future to transfer 2,700 more inmates. "This is a major step toward reducing the historic levels of overcrowding that is causing major safety issues for prison staff, inmates and the public," Corrections Secretary James E. Tilton said. Inmates are being asked to volunteer for the transfers, which will continue through March, although Tilton has said he may resort to involuntary transfers of illegal immigrants within California's 33-prison system who are flagged for deportation if not enough volunteers step forward. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger earlier this month declared a state of emergency for the 33-prison system, which with 172,000 inmates, is 70 percent over capacity. The administration has repeatedly warned that if nothing is done, the system will run out of space by June. The state Legislature nevertheless rejected Schwarzenegger's $6 billion prison plan in late August. Many Democrats prefer lowering the inmate population by overhauling sentencing laws and the parole system and by focusing greater attention on rehabilitation programs. The governor is expected to reintroduce plans to add beds to the state prison system when the Legislature reconvenes in December. CONTACT US: (916) 449-6687 or ssnelson@ocregister.com
Prison transfers provoke political ire BACKLASH: Democrats, corrections officers and activists decry the plan to ship inmates out of state. 10:00 PM PDT on Thursday, October 5, 2006 By PAIGE AUSTIN
The governor's emergency order to transfer California inmates to other states to ease crowding sent private-prison stocks soaring Thursday while provoking the ire of Democratic legislators, corrections officers and inmate advocacy groups. The state is poised this month to sign deals with private prison operators to house California inmates in states such as Indiana. The plan would send 2,200 inmates to other states almost immediately. Campaign Money It has already stirred the frustration of state legislators, who shot down a similar proposal during a special session on prison crowding in August. Amid accusations of cronyism and conflicts of interest, Gov. Schwarzenegger's campaign announced Thursday that he has returned $32,000 in campaign donations to a private prison slated to benefit from his proposal. "The Governor has a strict policy against accepting contributions from persons or entities doing business with the state or seeking to do business with the state and in which he or his office might be negotiating the terms of such state contracts," wrote his attorney in a letter to The Geo Group. The Geo Group is a Florida-based private prison firm, and one of three firms currently negotiating with the state for three- to five-year, no-bid contracts to house inmates out of state. Democrat's Response It reeks of "pay to play," said Senate Majority Leader Gloria Romero, D-Los Angeles. "What it demonstrates is that the governor can't resolve this crisis. He doesn't have the political will, and he doesn't have the stomach for it." Romero questioned the constitutionality of forced transfers and suggested the state concentrate on programs to reduce California's 70 percent recidivism rate. Few details emerged about the governor's proposal Thursday as the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation continues to negotiate the details with vendors. Under the plan, the state would first try to find 5,000 inmates who would volunteer to be housed out of state. They would go mainly to private prisons that operate under California laws and would strictly house California prisoners, said Bill Sessa, a spokesman for the corrections department. Because Schwarzenegger declared a state of emergency in California's 33 prisons, his proposal bypasses legislative approval for transferring inmates. The emergency order also lets the state get around competitive bidding rules in order to fast track the process. Buying Time With 172,000 inmates, California has prisoners triple bunked in dayrooms, gyms and classrooms, and corrections officials expect to run out of space entirely by August. The governor's plan would buy 10 more months to come up with a long-term solution to the crisis, said Sessa. Officials representing prisons in Indiana and Oregon have already expressed interest in housing California inmates, he said. A handful of other states such as Washington and Arizona already have similar programs to transfer their own inmates out of state to relieve crowding. State officials believe the measure will save money because the high cost of living in California holds true for inmate housing. So far, the state is negotiating to pay about $60 a day per inmate to house inmates out of state compared to the $90 a day for California prison inmates. Out-of-state inmates could still receive visitors, but they and their families would bear the travel costs as well as the costs of long-distance phone calls, Sessa said. So far inmates and their families are pretty terrified by the plans, said John Lum, a retired corrections leader and president of CURB, a coalition of organizations aimed at reducing the prison population. "I don't think this is a good idea," said Cindy Om, who visited her husband at the California Rehabilitation Center in Norco twice a month before his release last year. "If he had been moved out of state, I wouldn't have been able to visit him." Reach Paige Austin at 951-893-2106 or paustin@PE.com The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Release Elderly Inmates
JONATHAN TURLEY is a law professor at George Washington University and the founder and director of the Project for Older Prisoners. October 7, 2006 GOV. ARNOLD Schwarzenegger's declaration of a "state of emergency" has finally caused members of both parties to face a state prison crisis more than three decades in the making. In 2003, I reviewed the California prison system at the request of a joint committee of the state Senate and Assembly. Like experts before and since, I found a developing crisis of unparalleled dimensions. There are 172,000 prisoners in the state system; it's likely to surpass 193,000 by 2011. It is a system in cascading failure. Local jails have had to release felons early because they are backed up with prisoners who cannot be moved into state prisons. The situation is even more dire in those state prisons. Overcrowding has turned the system into a massive warehousing of humans. Inmates are stacked three high in cells and housed in hallways and converted gyms; rehabilitation and work programs have been eliminated to make room for bunks. Some prisons are 200% to 300% over capacity. In 29 out of 33 prisons, crowding is so extreme that prisoners are, according to the state, in "extreme peril." In order to preserve basic living conditions and make room for incoming prisoners, correctional officials have to "rent" cells from other states. This is hardly a long-term solution, as prison officials admit. It is akin to solving overcrowding in your apartment by continually putting stuff into storage — it is merely an illusion of progress with compounding rental bills. Perhaps the only positive aspect of this crisis is that it will force California's leaders to end years of denials. It is no longer a question of whether prisoners will be released, but which ones. This is a decision that must be made on the basis of societal and not political risks. We must make risk-based decisions that select the lowest-risk individuals for release. Under the current system, California has the nation's highest recidivism rate; a staggering 70% of inmates commit new crimes within three years of release. Although mistakes are inevitable, the science of predicting recidivism has come a long way since the days of phrenology, or measuring heads to predict criminal inclinations. Among the various factors, the most reliable is age. As a general rule, people become less dangerous as they age. In males, the greatest drop in recidivism occurs around age 30 and tends to continue to fall. In addition to their lower risk, older prisoners impose much higher costs on the system. Because of maintenance and medical costs, the average cost of an older prisoner is two to three times that of a younger prisoner. Many years ago I created the Project for Older Prisoners, or POPS, to deal with the nation's rising population of older and geriatric prisoners. In California, the number of prisoners 55 and older has doubled since 1997. Today, there are almost 20,000 prisoners over 50, including 717 over 70. The worst is yet to come. The reduction of parole and increased sentences have produced a large, stagnant group that is now entering middle age like a rabbit moving through a snake. To make matters even worse, studies have shown that prisoners are physiologically 10 years older than they are chronologically. Inmates are becoming more demanding and costly because of their physiological age, producing ballooning hidden costs. In 2003, POPS proposed a risk-based approach in dealing with the state's burgeoning older prisoner population. The basic components are: • Establishment of POPS programs through law schools — a move recommended years ago by the governor's task force. POPS students are trained to identify and evaluate low-risk prisoners within the system. • Creation of a system for the supervised release of low-risk, high-cost prisoners. • Creation of alternative forms of incarceration for mid-risk prisoners. Many prisoners can be placed into electronic bracelet programs that can reduce the daily costs of incarceration from $65 a day to roughly $10. • Establishment of geriatric units for high-risk, older prisoners. More than 50% of the costs of maintaining prisoners are attributed to the salaries and packages of correctional officers. Decrease the number of guards, you decrease the per capita cost of inmates. Although a geriatric prisoner may still be a risk for a given category of crime, he is unlikely to toss his walker over a razor-wire fence or outrun perimeter guards. Such a system can lower costs, improve care for inmates and reduce crime by making room for more dangerous, younger prisoners. For example, by placing older prisoners into special units, the state can slash medical costs by having staff trained to recognize and deal with gerontological disease before they become acute conditions. Such a system could result in the removal of hundreds or even thousands of prisoners from the system — quickly. Although politicians love to speak of fighting for victims, they have refused to act to prevent people from becoming victims in the first place. If California leaders want to be "tough on crime," they will have to make tough decisions. If they are finally ready, they should look first to their aging prison population.
KCBS
Posted: Thursday, 05 October 2006 9:47AM Schwarzenegger Criticized For Approach To Prison Overcrowding
SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. (KCBS) -- California’s prisons are so overcrowded that the system is in a state of emergency, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger declared on Wednesday, a move that would allow inmates to be transferred to empty beds in other states. Prison reform advocates have qualified praise for the governor, noting that he at least recognizes the severity of the problem, but noted that contracts to send 5,000 prisoners to other states cannot absorb the overflow of California’s 33 prisons. “That's only kind of a drop in the bucket,” said Donald Specter with the non-profit Prison Law Office, based in Marin. California has the state’s largest prison population, and many of the 172,000 men and women incarcerated here must bunk on gymnasium floors and in class rooms rather than in cells, as many correctional faculties operate at double their capacity. Such conditions make rehabilitation programs virtually impossible since there is nowhere to conduct them. Sentencing reform would make a more concrete dent in the number of prisoners that must be housed each year, Specter said. “Don't just send everybody back who misses a parole appointment or flunks a drug test,” he told KCBS reporter Janice Wright. “Many, many states have sentencing commissions where the sentences are tied much more rationally to the public safety risk.” His organization is already planning to challenge the Schwarzenegger plan in court, noting that the emergency declaration would override a statute requiring prisoners consent for authorities to move them across state lines. “Current law requires that for prisoners to be transferred out of state, it must be a voluntary move," said Assemblyman Mark Leno. Declaring a state of emergency allows prisoners to be moved without
their consent for their own safety.
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