California Prisons, Post-Partisanship, and the Death of Democracy

This article hits every point. Excellent. Our legislators absolutely did an end run around voters. This is all about union workers and union contracts in my eyes. We didn't need new prisons. All they needed to do was show the federal government that they were going to make changes. Sentencing Commission and Parole Reform were the best ways to reduce population, they are nowhere in AB900. Next, real Rehabilitation and education for inmates. All of these changes would have been much less costly and would prove much more effective. This state has no interest in saving tax payer money. It can only be to create more jobs for CCPOA members and their cronies. This whole thing was wrong.

Anyone know why no facts have been released in support of the recently adopted $7.7 billion prison construction package? Could be because prison overcrowding can, and should, be eliminated at a cost of $1.5 billion rather than $7.7 billion!

The State could eliminate the actual current 16,600 prison bed shortfall for about $1.5 billion. It would require the construction of 16,600 county jail beds to hold short term offenders shifted to prison only because of the 100,000 county jail bed shortage . About 30,000 to 40,000 prison beds are occupied by offenders serving short terms, 60,000 inmates serving 6 months or less, the reason for prison overcrowding . County jail bed construction also costs less. Prison beds cost $162,000/bed compared to $92,000/bed for jail beds and cost about 10% to 20% more to operate. Dealing with the county jail bed shortage is obviously the right way to eliminate prison overcrowding.

The construction package funds 40,000 additional prison beds to deal with a 16,600 prison bed shortage and funds 13,000 county jail beds for a 100,000 county jail bed shortage The additional prison beds will result in a surplus of over 23,000 prison beds and the additional jail beds will leave the counties with a shortage of about 87,000 beds. The prison construction package was adopted almost without comment and undoubtedly will proceed. It is probable not many of our leaders, or the media, have even read the legislation or analysis by the Legislative Analysist. As usual, taxpayers should just get ready to pay!

."Citizens need to stand up to recall."

7.7 Billion to build more prisons to house petty theives...Don't let go of those dangerous crimals...Arnold "Ha"
People are getting a strikes for stealing 2 bottles of liquer,or some clothes,or videos.LIFE IN PRISON FOR SMALL CRIMES IS A CRIME,and waste of the tax payers money....and destroying lives that could have been productive.Instead tax payers pay $43,000 a year to house each inmate.

Lobby-backed politicians are for the Prison Industrial Complex.Tax payers foot the bill to build more prisons so Corporate stock-holders can expand their slave work force inside state prisons. This even takes jobs away from us on the out-side.

These politicians need to be recalled.These politicians pressed for harsh sentancing laws...through fear-mongering campains that's why the prisons are over crowded...not because of more crime."
By the year 2056 at this rate of incarseration every American will be in prison....they'll just put barbed wire around the whole____county.

Citizens need to stand up to recall."

The prison Industry in the United States: Big business or a new form of Slavery?
http://www.granma.cu/ingles/2005/octubre/juev13/42carceles.html

You really should consider a couple basic prison overcrowding facts before proposing prison reforms:

• Overcrowding does not involve inmates serving long terms for serious crimes. There is plenty of room for all such offenders - none will ever be released due to overcrowding.
• The actual 16,600 prison bed shortage exists only because thousands of less serious offenders and parole violators, serving terms of less than a year, have been diverted to prison due to the long term, very severe county jail bed shortages . These short term offenders occupy about 30,000 to 40,000 prison beds, causing overcrowding.

The 40,000 prison bed construction package will cost taxpayers about $6.2 billion for construction and $1.4 billion annually for the 30 to 40 year life span of the new beds. It is not needed. When feasible, prison overcrowding is resolved without construction. Governor Reagan reduced the inmate population by early release and closing one of the state's prisons without significant problems . Simply increasing inmate work time credits for selected low risk inmates would provide immediate prison overcrowding relief, reduce annual operating costs by about $.5 billion and avoid spending any of the $7.7 billion, not an insignificant savings.

Sorry, comments are temporarily disabled. We're doing a bit of server maintenance on the commenting area. We'll be back up and running shortly. Thank you for your patience.