« Editorial NY Times: Childbirth in Chains | Main | Book Review: Beyond Attica: The Untold Story of Women's Resistance Behind Bars »
July 21, 2009
CA: State budget deal reduces prison inmates by 27,000
State budget deal reduces prison inmates by 27,000
The plan accomplishes this with a combination of measures, including having some prisoners complete sentences at home and shortening terms for those who finish rehabilitation programs.
By Michael Rothfeld
LA Times
July 21, 2009
Reporting from Sacramento - The state budget deal negotiated by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and legislative leaders would reduce the population of California prisons by nearly 27,000 inmates in the current fiscal year.
That would be done with a combination of new measures, including allowing some inmates to finish their sentences on home detention, creating new incentives for completion of rehabilitation programs and scaling back parole supervision for the least serious offenders.
The proposal, details of which were obtained by The Times, would save a total of $1.2 billion in the coming year.
It is unclear whether Republicans will vote for a budget plan that includes reduction of the state prison system, which now houses 170,000 inmates. Some GOP votes are needed to pass a budget in California.
If Republicans demur, the Democrats who dominate the Legislature could approve the prison proposal as separate legislation with a simple majority vote, which would not require GOP support.
The plan would grant authority to state corrections officials to allow any inmate with 12 months or less left to serve to complete his or her sentence on home detention, although state officials would not be required to do so. Prison officials could also put any inmate who is over 60 or medically incapacitated on home detention instead of in a prison cell.
The state would use electronic monitoring for inmates serving time at home, and officials estimate that about 6,300 could do time this way.
In addition, inmates who achieve milestones in rehabilitative programs, substance abuse treatment, vocational training or education could receive up to six weeks off their prison terms, although the credit could be forfeited in cases of subsequent bad behavior.
The plan includes a scaled-down version of Schwarzenegger's proposal to change some felonies to misdemeanors so inmates could go to county jails instead of prisons. Five crimes would be reclassified, such as petty theft with a previous conviction.
Inmates would receive less severe sentences for committing property crimes, because the amounts that guide sentencing in state law would be increased to account for inflation.
The state would change its parole system to create a "Parole Re-Entry Accountability Program" that would return fewer people to state prison, depending on their behavior. The plan is estimated to reduce the state parole population by 46,000 -- more than a third of those currently under supervision.
Those former prisoners convicted of the least serious crimes would not be subject to parole revocations that could return them to prison, as currently happens with about 70,000 a year. Those who committed more serious crimes would earn the right to early parole discharge for completing drug treatment.
In addition, counties would receive a total of $45 million in the coming year, from federal stimulus funds, to keep inmates on probation instead of sending them to prison. The money could be used by counties to hire more staff.
The budget plan also would create a sentencing commission to reexamine the state penal code, which would not save money immediately but would advance plans under discussion by lawmakers for years. The commission would be charged with establishing new sentencing guidelines by July 1, 2012.
michael.rothfeld@latimes.com
Copyright 2009
Posted by lois at July 21, 2009 06:24 PM