40,000 Inmates Released

Sorry I’ve not blogged in a few weeks I’ve been under the weather, so to speak. But I’m back and the three judge panel, who is deciding the fate of California prisons, has finally issued its ruling. I only have an article by Howard Mintz (hmintz@mercurynews.com). However, according to the article approximately 40,000 inmates will have to be released. The main thrust of the ruling is putting a cap of 110,000 total inmates in the adult male prison system. What that means is: The aprox 40,000 inmates that have to be cut free must be permanent. This is not a onetime thing. So that means that not only does the prison system have to cut 40,000 inmates it has to continue to do it even with daily intake from all the various county jails and the 70% recidivism rate. From where I sit, and it’s a very small cell, I like the judges, have no faith that the California politicians will come together and solve the prison situation themselves. It will require real reform of parole and parole revocation policies. It will require the Dept of Corrections and Rehabilitation to actually rehabilitate. As of now the CDCR just cut aprox 43% of the educational vocation budget. And it will require a real commitment to restructure California’s sentencing laws. I just don’t see any of the above happening. I have very little faith in the group of politicians who aren’t balance the state budget on time every year! The only thing the state wants to do is appeal the ruling to the U.S. Supreme Court. So I ask – then what? What will the state do if the appeal fails? Well I suppose that if the states appeal fails then the state will be forced to do what it has been fighting against since 1990. However, in a perverse way the panels cap will help the state with its budget. Here’s how: The stat had already agreed to release 27,000 inmates. Mostly love level offenders and non-violent – they say. The reason for doing this is to cut $1.3 billion from the states corrections budget. Now, the panel wants 40,000 plus inmates released and a cap at 110,000 men in the state prisons. Well according to my very rough accounting the cap will save the state $2.3 -$2.7 billion a year. The state can use that number as a direct state budget savings thus the actual savings will be aprox 4 billion towards the state deficit. Funny how accounting gimmicks make money grow. When money is actually taken away from a budget – Say corrections, and put into the general fund but not spent the actual budget savings is more. It’s like going from -3 to 3, the amount between them is 6 not 3. That’s how a direct general fund cut from an existing budget expense is greater. Why is the state fighting a $5 billion savings? There is only one thing greater than money: That’s power. In this case political power. Since the 1960’s and Nixon’s war on drugs. Prisons populations have steadily risen. The U.S. now has one (1) person out of (32) thirty-two on parole, probation, in jail or in Prison. And has over two (2) million people in its various jails and prisons. Both of those last states are the highest in the world. The politicians, as they have done for thousands of years, played on the peoples fear to get re-elected. Each would be the politician trying to appear toughest on Drugs and crimes then his or her opponent. Over the years this has led to all the draconian laws and sentences that are causing our prisons and jails to now hold more than any other country on earth. And the political handlers, who advise the politicians, always remind them to never be or even appear to be soft on crime. As a result California is willing to make massive cuts to children’s education, and thus ensuring more uneducated or undereducated people who will come to jails and prisons; but Fought for 19 years not to reform the state’s prisons. So they don’t look soft on crime. Even now the mantra “Don’t look soft on crime,” is so pervasive in political circles that the California state politicians are willing to flush the state’s future in order to keep the prisons and jails full. The three judge panel just gave them a free out and a way that they, the politicians, can blame the “Liberal Federal Judges!” Why continue to fight when it’s a win/win for the states politicians. The only reason I can come up with is the states politicians can only hold on to their power by the continuation of selling the “Fear”. Long gone are days when an elected official went to office to serve the peop.es interest and to come up with new solutions to the problem that continue to plague the state. Now a new politician comes to the capital and is told by the others “This is how it’s done, if you want to get re-elected, you have to sell the Fear.” The politicians now know no other way to operate. Fear has worked so well, for so long, it’s hard to change. But if the leaders of the state of California do not take this as a positive opportunity to remake the state prison system and at the same time make strides to balance the budget. Then they are all fools. And the voters who would re-elect fools are bigger fools. Size this moment to restore funding to the children’s schools. Reinvent a prison system whose goal is to produce productive educated men and women. Who will have a chance to make it on parole through a network of half – way houses and a chance to get a job through a state incentive program to hire parolees; also an overhaul of the States sentencing laws and parole revocation policies. These things must be done. California must take the steps away from fear based power to leadership based power. Remember 1 in 32 in the U.S. is on parole, probation, in jail or in prisons. Let’s turn this around- and start in California right now. Until Next Time, Respectfully, VERITAS