Prisoner release program timing questioned

August 8, 2011

The Legislative Analyst’s Office is calling on state lawmakers to get more involved in plans to reduce the number of inmates in California’s overcrowded prisons. [CaliforniaWatch]

In a report released Friday, the analyst’s office recommended that the Legislature ask the federal courts for more time to bring down the prisoner population, work to put new prison construction on hold, and change state limits on the number of prisoners who can be incarcerated out of state — currently at 10,000 inmates.

In May, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld an earlier ruling that the state’s prisons are unconstitutionally overcrowded, compromising inmate health care. The federal court gave the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDRC) until roughly June 2013 to shed 34,000 inmates, California Watch said.

The analyst’s office argues the state is behind in its population reduction plans, and the corrections department is requesting an extension — all of which will get legislators to take a more active role, according to California Watch.

“Moreover, as the high court itself noted, how the state achieves compliance with the inmate population targets involves some important policy choices about how to achieve compliance with federal court orders at the least risk to the safety of the public,” the report says.

Currently, California’s 33 prisons are home to 13,371 non-lifers serving a revocation sentence or pending a revocation hearing and 18,597 inmates serving lower level offenses that are non-serious, nonviolent, and non-sex related.


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If we deport all the ilegals in jail back to there home countries that would free up some space


Yeah but they’ll come back, the US border is wide open. I think we should rather send them to Sheriff Arpaio. I hear the room and board are very reasonable at his jail.


THIS^^


We need a “Sheriff Joe” in this state. Tent City out in the hot desert. Pink underwear for the inmates and 3 basic meals and a cot. That’s it! Nothing for them to look forward to returning to again. Nobody wants to come back to Sheriff Joe’s prison!


I suspect business is to blame for prisoners not being allowed to work and produce goods in unfair competetion with them. Each crook could equal 50k dollars against penal costs to taxpayers in production easily not to mention keeping them outa trouble and trained. No ins. or tax required to be paid to them either.

The prison system is blowing it ruining these potentially retrievable human beings.

This privatizing system is acting like any another business, creating customers to keep that stock humming. Wow, we’re bleeding liberty and justice these daze and it looks to be increasingly so.


Business is not to blame for crooks not being hired.

Let me ask you, would you be the first to hire a criminal, knowing he or she is just out of the slammer?

Each crook is there because of bad behavior or choices. Business has nothing to do with it….


Too bad they can’t wait until Alan Gura wins before the US Supreme Court again. By this time next year, we will all be able to exercise our civil rights to BEAR arms for the purpose of self defense as we individually see fit.


Until then, we are at the mercy of those prisoners being released.


When seconds count, the police are just minutes away.


Why are they doing this? There are no jobs for these parolees and they will just going back to what they know, which is breaking the law. Then they will just go back to prison. Doesnt make sense!