Opinion
February 20, 2012
Let’s get facts on private prisons
Arizona lacks the information it needs to make good decisions about private prisons.
This simple fact is reinforced by a recent report that raises troubling questions about public safety, cost and the people's right to know.
The public's servants -- lawmakers and the governor -- have a duty to find answers...
LINK - AZCentral.com
February 1, 2012
Editorial: State must grapple with aging prisoners
California finally is making headway in reducing numbers in overcrowded prisons – enough to get the federal courts to say that the end of federal receivership "appears to be in sight."
But to get California prisons back under state control, the state will have to provide a credible plan by the end of April for tackling the other major problem in the prison system: An aging inmate population....
LINK - SacBee.com
December 29, 2011
Op-Ed: Four ways to relieve overcrowded prisons
Necessity can spur novelty. Even political novelty. As the need for fiscal austerity grows, an unlikely alliance has emerged between policymakers and public advocates who have long sought criminal justice reform. These policymakers are realizing what advocates have reiterated for years: The nation’s addiction to incarceration as a curb on crime must end. The evidence is staggering.
In California, 54 prisoners may share a single toilet and 200 prisoners may live in a gymnasium supervised by two or three officers. Suicidal inmates may be held for protracted periods in cages without toilets and the wait times for mental health care sometimes reach 12 months...
LINK - CSMonitor.com
December 25, 2011
Editorial: Pension numbers need to be nailed
When California State Treasurer Bill Lockyer dropped by The Sacramento Bee Editorial Board last week to talk about public employee pensions, he said he didn't have "settled, crisp views" on pension reform. That statement surprised everyone in the room.
After all, Lockyer is one of the state's chief financial officers, a man who's been sitting on the boards of the state's two biggest public pension funds, the California Public Employees' Retirement System and the State Teachers' Retirement System, for five years now...
LINK - SacBee.com
December 24, 2011
Opinion: Pension reform hindered by limits of contract protections
When it comes to public-employee pensions in California, what goes up usually can't come down.
At least that's the prevailing legal theory, severely restricting reform options across the state. As the state pension squeeze intensifies, we soon could see those limits tested.
Pensions typically are based on the number of years an employee works. Each additional year adds to future retirement payments. Starting in 1999, most public agencies in California increased that annual accrual rate...
LINK - MercuryNews.com
October 7, 2011
Uninformed former (sloppy) journalist opines on cell phones, CCPOA - and gets it wrong - again
Gov. Jerry Brown today signed an executive order and legislation intended to deal with the problem of cell phones being smuggled into the state’s prisons, but he artfully ignores the main source of those contraband phones, the employees who guard the prisons, and the main political obstruction to reform — the union that represents most of the state’s prison guards, the California Correctional Peace Officers Association.
Executive orders are toothless by nature, but this one carefully avoids tackling the problem head on, even as it calls for some reasonable reforms:
IT IS HEREBY ORDEREDthat the CDCR use existing budget resources and pursue all available grants to conduct more thorough searches of people who enter prisons; to increase the number of random searches of inmates’ cells, prison property, and employees; to increase penalties for inmates in possession of contraband devices and anyone who illegally provides contraband devices to inmates; and to increase the use of canines and state-of-the-art technology to find and confiscate contraband cellular devices...
LINK - UnionWatch.org
September 1, 2011
Editorial: Prison spending is budget at its dumbest
We have all heard many times about how California's budget priorities are out of whack when it comes to corrections and education, so perhaps we can be forgiven for believing the problem somehow fixed itself.
Excuse yourself if you thought prison costs had gone down along with the crime rate. Don't feel all alone if you figured we were spending more on education, higher education especially, what with those big salaries for university presidents...
LINK - MontereyHerald.com
August 6, 2011
Sac Bee editorial complains about CCPOA activist time bank
For those of us who like to see California dollars kept in California, it is bad enough that several hundred state correctional officers will be visiting Las Vegas for their union's annual convention, beginning Aug. 16.
But here's the kicker: We'll be paying for their time while they're on the junket. The prison officers will be on paid leave when they go, because of a unique provision in the California Correctional Peace Officers Association's contract.
The union negotiated with the state to add this benefit to its contract in 1999 in place of a scheduled salary increase. Instead of a pay raise or more paid vacation days, a limited number of members received the option of three days of paid "activist release time," which can be used for attending the convention or other purposes...
LINK - SacBee.com
May 24, 2011
Greenhut spreads a number of lies about CCPOA, MOU
When California governor Jerry Brown announced details last month of a two-year contract that he’d negotiated with California’s prison guards’ union, you could practically hear the sighs of disappointment from stalwarts who had hoped that the 73-year-old maverick might take on a few vested interests as he tried to close the state’s $15 billion budget gap. That hope was always at odds with reality: last year, public-sector unions poured $30 million into independent campaign expenditures on Brown’s behalf, including $2 million from the California Correctional Peace Officers Association (CCPOA). So the favorable new union contract shouldn’t come as a surprise, but it should deflate the wishful thinking that Brown is likely to be a radical reformer—unless you consider extending tax increases and restricting the use of state cars and cell phones real reform...
LINK - City-Journal.org
February 22, 2011
Editorial: State must get real on federal prison help
Border security and immigration are federal issues. Yet state lawmakers define state crimes and set state prison sentences. The cost to imprison foreigners in the United States illegally who have been convicted of state crimes should be a shared responsibility.
Unfortunately, the feds try to avoid any responsibility.
Due to pressure from Congress, however, since 1995 they have paid a per diem cost based on prison guard salaries and the number of inmate days. They don't pay the other costs of imprisonment that would still be there if noncitizen prisoners were removed from the prisons...
LINK - SacBee.com
February 6, 2011
Sac Bee editorial opposing elimination of DJJ
County district attorneys, probation officials, police chiefs, sheriffs and advocates for young criminals all express skepticism about the Brown administration's plan to have counties take over the state's entire juvenile justice system.
The governor should pay close attention to what they say.
Under policies put in place over the last decade, counties have already assumed responsibility for most youthful offenders...
LINK - SacBee.com
October 4, 2010
Jeanne Woodford opinion letter on CDCR & Reform in Sac Bee
Public safety is a bipartisan concern. The corrections budget must be, too.
California's spending on corrections has risen unchecked for too long and with too little to show for it. As every other area of the state budget absorbs significant cuts, corrections remains the exception even as recidivism rates exceed 70 percent. Despite some attempts to cut back, prison costs have actually increased during this severe economic downturn. The state Legislature must not let one more year go by without righting this wrong...
LINK - SacBee.com
July 15, 2010
Attended a Union Meeting for the First Time in 15 Years - by Ben J.
Mr. Mike Jimenez,
My name is Ben J. and I am a Correctional Officer at Folsom State Prison. I have been with CDCR for 20 years. I am writing to express my appreciation, opinions, and maybe a few analogies from my work experience.
I was able to attend the last union meeting on June 26th in Sacramento and stayed for the duration of the meeting. I would like to personally thank you and all of your staff for your time, sacrifices, dedication, and the passion that you have towards your important positions...
July 12, 2010
Hello, Hello, is this thing on?? by Stephanie B.
Hello, Hello, is this thing on?? (said the psychologically and financially battered, bruised, and abused wife to a state correctional officer)
This is a letter to get someone's attention! This is a letter to serve as a last desperate attempt to get someone to listen! This is a letter to expose corruption and favoritism! This is a letter to tell MY story! And, this is a letter to get SOMEONE, ANYONE, and our Governor to LISTEN!
Our Family will be losing our home if Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger continues with his demand to pay the minimum wage for my husband. I have sat back long enough watching the state of California use and abuse the state workers, ESPECIALLY the California State Correctional Officers. Correctional Officers risk their lives every day against criminals, murderers, psychos, and a multitude of other uneducated gangsters and felons only to be looked down upon and not recognized for the courage they display on a daily basis. Not only do they face the danger, they have, for the last several years, been squashed day in and day out by the vice held in the hands of the state government and the state legislature. The politics are squeezing them and their families from every angle, and they can be squeezed no more
February 5, 2010
Our View: Feeling safe about prisoners’ early release
It's not just Californians - or even Californians with a weather eye on our state's budget mess - who are bothered by the fact that we spend too much to lock up too many in our prisons.
And it's not just progressives who worry about the side-effects of locking up hundreds of thousands with very little effort made to "rehabilitate" them.
It's no less a personage than Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy. While he's sometimes seen as aligned with a moderate wing on the high court, it was Kennedy, after all, who wrote the recent ruling allowing big business to go back to contributing cash in big ways to political campaigns. So he's no Tom Hayden…
LINK - PasadenaNews.com
February 4, 2010
US Supreme Court Justice Kennedy on Calif prisons and CCPOA
U.S. Supreme Court Justice Anthony M. Kennedy criticized California sentencing policies and crowded prisons Wednesday night, calling the influence that unionized prison guards had in passing the three-strikes law "sick."
In an otherwise courtly and humorous address to the Los Angeles legal community, Kennedy expressed obvious dismay over the state of corrections and rehabilitation in the country. He said U.S. sentences are eight times longer than those issued by European courts.
"California now has 185,000 people in prison at $32,500 a year" each, he said. He then urged voters and officials to compare that expense to what taxpayers spend per pupil in elementary schools….
LINK - LATimes.com
January 19, 2010
Editorial: “Governor needs to be fair with CCPOA workers”
As the wife of a California correctional officer I am compelled to respond to the article in the Record on Thursday,Jan.14, 2010. ("Governor fights prison guard furlough ruling").
Since our budget crisis started, the California Correctional Peace Officers Association (CCPOA) have forfeited approximately 15% of their income.
Additionally they do not receive holiday or overtime pay when they are worked. The governor is now seeking another 5% cut in wages and increase their pension contribution another 5% for a total of about 25% lost income…
LINK - MantecaBulletin.com
December 16, 2009
Police chief op-ed: career criminals to be released under Schwarzenegger plan
…Many have forgotten the importance of the criminal justice system to include our prisons. California prisons are filled with Clemmons types. Many are suffering from mental illness and drug addiction and refuse to be rehabilitated. When they do get out, we rely on our police officers to stand between them and us.
When someone like Clemmons is willing to kill four police officers in broad daylight, how much easier is it to kill four innocent citizens?…
LINK - Times-Standard.com
December 4, 2009
OC Register: CA’s Tough on crime stance caused state’s fiscal crisis?
August 20, Sacramento. It's a mild day for late summer, but the heat is on inside the State Capitol. After hours of debate, the State Senate has narrowly passed a controversial prison reform package.
The plan would reduce the state prison population by 27,000, providing desperately needed relief for a system holding 171,000 inmates–nearly twice capacity. The Republican governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger, supports the plan, which reduces the penalties for some crimes and allows some convicts to serve their time at home.
Legislative Republicans, however, say the entire plan is soft on crime. That's enough to cause serious problems in the Assembly. Several Democrats there are eyeing higher office. Others face tough re-election bids. A "soft-on-crime" label could kill their political careers…
LINK - OCRegister.com
November 27, 2009
Sac Bee says: “Sell San Quentin”
State Treasurer Bill Lockyer last week pulled back on issuing $590 million in bonds to pay for the reconstruction of San Quentin's crumbling death row.
Lockyer's decision was based on a legal technicality, which means its impact may only be temporary. But anything that would slow down this expensive boondoggle is worthy of commendation.
Credit goes to two legislators, Sen. Mark Leno of San Francisco and Assemblyman Jared Huffman of San Rafael, who've questioned the costly expansion of San Quentin's death row without an adequate examination of alternatives…
LINK - SacBee.com Editorials
October 8, 2009
A Corcoran C/O gets his letter to the editor on furloughs printed in the paper
I like my job as a correctional officer, but I am alarmed by the lack of concern for public safety and the safety of officers who work at our prisons.
Our governor declared that the state Assembly lacks guts to cut prison costs. I find that Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger lacks the experience to lead our state. He has shifted the burden for the state's debt to counties and cities by taking badly needed funds from their budget to fix the state's budget.
Shifting responsibility is not an answer. It's a cowardly way of making someone else deal with a problem that's wholly the state's responsibility. Shifting inmates to overcrowded county jails and disregarding sentencing guidelines by creating new ones, and letting inmates go to save money, only sends a signal to cities and counties that the state will disregard public safety in order to shirk responsibility to protect the public…
LINK - Bakersfield.com
September 17, 2009
Opinion: “Private prisons wrong answer for budget woes”
On Sept. 17, 2007, two murderers from Washington state escaped from a private prison in Florence where they were serving time. They reportedly jumped a guard, hopped the fence and were gone.
A for-profit private maximum security prison could soon be coming to a community near you.
Two weeks ago, Gov. Jan Brewer signed into law House Bill 2010, which starts the bidding process to turn over Arizona Department of Corrections prisons, including maximum security facilities, to a private corporation in the name of cutting costs and generating revenue. Brewer previously vetoed the private prison bill in July. The private prison industry stands to make lots of money while the state gets some quick cash, but at what cost to us?…
LINK - EastValleyTribune.com
September 14, 2009
My View: Recycling firm shows the way to fight prison recidivism
California's overcrowded, constitutionally suspect prisons aren't just incarcerating criminals. They're confining our state's ability to fix our fiscal house, better serve taxpayers and provide crucial services for law-abiding, working families and their children. To balance its books, the state has slashed funding for schools, health care and services that protect children and seniors.
With the state cutting funding to the bone for these and other vital programs, Californians deserve a more effective, less costly corrections system…
LINK - SacBee.com
August 5, 2009
Editorial: Early release of prisoners results in more crime
It is shocking that in order to save the state money, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and other elected officials are contemplating a massive early release of prison inmates, the elimination of parole supervision for released prisoners, and a refusal to return inmates who violate parole to prison.
We can prove, both anecdotally and by extensive studies, that this plan will increase crime and make victims out of many innocent Californians.
For a single anecdotal case epitomizing the danger of the governor's plan, look no further than the tragic murder last month of 17-year-old Lily Burk. The accused murderer, Charlie Samuel, is a poster child for the failings of the governor's plan…
LINK - DailyNews.com
March 25, 2009
Editorial: State prisons need federal oversight
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and other California officials should stop trying to fight the federal courts over management of the state's deeply troubled prison system and the dysfunctional health care operation within the prisons.
The energy spent on trying to get federal Judge Thelton Henderson to back off would be better spent working with him to fix the problems that caught the bench's attention in the first place.
Lawyers for the governor argued unsuccessfully again this week that the state is capable of running the health care system on its own, despite considerable evidence to the contrary. The California Department of Corrections, under a succession of governors and directors, has proved itself virtually oblivious to guidance from the outside, but also incapable of reform from within…
LINK - MontereyHerald.com
February 24, 2009
Letter: Amazing politics protects parolees
As a former member of law enforcement, I am outraged by the decision by California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation administration that allows hundreds of parolees in Northern California to go unsupervised by parole officers.
Administrators have ordered parole supervisors to "waive" contact requirements for felons convicted of domestic battery, weapons charges and many offenders also have mental illnesses.
Why? (Because) there aren't enough parole officers on staff to supervise the present parolee population and administrators will not allow supervisors to authorize parole officers to work overtime to supervise the additional parolees…
LINK - Appeal-Democrat.com
February 8, 2009
My View: Inmates’ behavior fuels prison health crisis
In the debate over funding a constitutionally adequate prison health care system in California, most people, including politicians and administrators, are missing a key point – the role of personal responsibility.
I worked in the Health Care Services Division of the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, or CDCR, for nearly eight years. I was appalled by the system's inability to prevent or discourage irresponsible behavior by prisoners that resulted in substantial medical bills for CDCR, ultimately paid by the overburdened taxpayer. No one seems to be talking about this vexing problem.
J. Clark Kelso, the federal receiver for California's prison health care system, wants $8 billion in taxpayer funds for construction of expanded prison health and housing facilities for the burgeoning prison population. The price alone is enough to outrage many Californians who believe that the state cannot afford such expenditures when it's suffering a major budget deficit…
LINK - SacBee.com
January 8, 2009
Prosecutors, Cops and Judges: Ready to Ditch California’s Death Penalty
For Jeanne Woodford, the former warden of San Quentin and former Director of the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, it wasn't the years of delays in death penalty cases but the experience of actually carrying out executions that shaped her perspective. In October, the L.A. Times published Woodford's reflections:
As the warden of San Quentin, I presided over four executions. After each one, someone on the staff would ask, "Is the world safer because of what we did tonight?" We knew the answer: No…
LINKM - CaliforniaProgressReport.com
December 15, 2008
Opinion: “San Quentin wrong for new death row”
For the last several years, Sen. Jeff Denham, R-Atwater, has pushed to move California's Death Row somewhere less expensive than San Quentin Prison in Marin County. His idea has gotten little support, but the response could be different this legislative session with the state mired in money woes.
Denham already has introduced Senate Bill 28, which would require the decommissioning and sale of the San Quentin property…
LINK - ModBee.com (The Modesto Bee)
December 14, 2008
Prison Plans: Vacaville right to scrutinize expansion proposal (opinion)
After years of inadequate medical care at California state prisons, a proposal is finally being rolled out that would add up to 5,000 beds throughout the state.
But is Vacaville ready to take 1,400 of them? That was the question posed last week when the court-appointed receiver and his team came to town to take public comment.
The proposed facility would be built near the hills behind California State Prison, Solano, and the California Medical Facility. It is one of seven proposed to ease the medical and mental health care needs of inmates throughout the state…
LINK - TheReporter.com
December 10, 2008
Receiver ignores valid concerns, pushes ahead
Re: J. Clark Kelso's Dec. 3 commentary, "Federal receiver responds to prison hospital concerns":
Kelso's commentary ignores the legitimate concerns of Ventura County residents and attempts to gloss over the valid reasons why the Camarillo site is inappropriate for 1,500 state prisoners.
Kelso explains that hiring medical staff is impractical in remote regions, so his priority is to place facilities where "highly educated, trained and skilled staff are already available…"
LINK - VenturaCountyStar.com
November 15, 2008
Editorial: Outside prison bid just a stall tactic
A NEW PLAYER has surfaced in the ongoing saga dealing with California's broken prison inmate health-care system, the GEO Group Inc. of Florida. Just who is GEO Group? Some believe this is Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's best chance for a great escape from federal courts, but we believe otherwise.
GEO Group is a private company that manages various prisons throughout the U.S. and other countries. The company has been lobbying the governor's office and the state Legislature since January, spending more than $300,000, with hopes of taking over California's prison system, and thus, giving the state a possible way out from a federal court mandate.
That mandate, which is currently being fought in court, could force California to pay $8 billion to clean up its inmate health care system. As a side note, the Florida firm contributed $50,000 last month to the Proposition 11 campaign, the redistricting initiative backed by Schwarzenegger…
LINK - ContraCostaTimes.com
August 25, 2008
Opinion: “Prison deal bittersweet”
San Joaquin County supervisors were correct in withholding judgment on a proposal for an 1,800-bed prison hospital on the grounds of an abandoned Stockton youth prison.
The hospital would be one of seven being pushed by J. Clark Kelso, a receiver under orders from the federal court to upgrade the state's deplorable prison medical system. Kelso says the upgrade will require some 10,000 hospital beds and cost in the neighborhood of $8 billion. For months he has been negotiating with state officials to get the funds, but all that talk has come to naught, and this month he asked the court for permission to simply seize the money from the state's general fund…
LINK - Recordnet.com
August 19, 2008
Opinion: “Kelso’s plan problematic”
A lot of people in this state are chafed about J. Clark Kelso, the federal court receiver who is asking a judge to allow him to extract about $8 billion from the state budget.
The money would go to build about 10,000 hospital beds for state prison inmates and bring prison health care to a constitutionally guaranteed standard. Exactly what that standard is remains a bit nebulous.
One of the seven hospitals Kelso wants to build would be in Stockton, on the site of an abandoned youth prison…
LINK - RecordNet.com
July 28, 2008
Opinion: “It’s like screwing around with the ecosystem”
In California, the prison system is going to start integrating its prison cells — for years, inmate housing has been segregated along racial lines. An inmate sued, though, getting all the way to the Supreme Court. As part of a settlement, Cali agreed to start throwing cons into the melting pot, the Washington Post reports.
(Slowly, though — it's only in a few prisons at first.)
I'm curious how this is going to go down. Everything I've ever read says that most prisoners self-segregate because, well, they just plain don't like people from other races. And they tend to get all stabby when pushed together…
LINK - KansasCity.com Crime Scene Blog
July 24, 2008
Opinion: “Shame, on Yolo supervisors”
Once again a blight will be placed on the residents of Western and Northern Rural Yolo County. How dare the county supervisors fathom the thought that the educated and culturally sophisticated residents of these communities would entertain the idea of a prison re-entry facility.
County supervisors are elected to represent the people, not their political careers nor their special interests. Yes, I understand the county will profit from this facility; however, I do not understand why they would not first contact the residents prior to their decision. This situation is a perfect example of how the county will strain a rural area and take the profit and place it within their special projects, and not place the profit back to the area being burden. Many promises come from these supposed leaders and heads of departments within our county. However, they all have something to gain, pay raises, special funding, notoriety, etc…
LINK - DailyDemocrat.com
July 22, 2008
Opinion: “State money trumps ag interests for county”
At the Zamora meeting on July 15, we learned that the county General Services suggested the sites for the proposed re-entry facility.
I am a third generation small farmer in Yolo County. The county does not allow a farmer to split a parcel from his land, even to sell to the farmer's child. The zoning laws and ordinances responsible are said to be in existence to protect the county's agricultural lands. But apparently it is a different situation if the county is offered money from the state.
The county appears to be very willing to let a landowner split a piece of land and remove it entirely from agriculture in order to provide a prison site. Isn't this exactly what the zoning laws were designed to prevent - a landowner dramatically changing the use of his land, and in so doing affecting the use of and reducing the value of adjacent properties…?
LINK - DailyDemocrat.com
July 21, 2008
Opinion: “Prison facility doesn’t belong in Camarillo”
The proposed conversion of the Ventura Youth Correctional Facility into a prison facility will not solely affect the farmers, schools and residents of Camarillo. The impact on the county, as a whole, will be significant and real.
A federal court approved a plan by Federal Receiver J. Clark Kelso to build seven facilities throughout the state that would exclusively treat inmates with medical and mental-health problems, in order to improve California's prison healthcare system. The Ventura Youth Correctional Facility is a target site for one of these facilities, and would be filled with some of the state's highest-risk inmates, many of whom may require psychiatric care…
LINK - VenturaCountyStar.com
July 16, 2008
Opinion: “Cost of providing services makes re-entry facility unfeasible”
County and state officials are making every effort to convince readers that a prison re-entry facility in the Dunnigan area of Yolo County is a positive addition to the community.
In a recent front-page article regarding the proposed re-entry facility, California Department of Corrections undersecretary Kathryn Jett makes a point of saying that although highly secure, the facility will not look like a prison. It is not the look of the prison, Jett, but the lack of water, sewer, and fire protection in the area that concerns residents. She goes on to assure us that the facility will be built, funded, and staffed by the state rather than the county. Personally, I don't care if it is county or state money being spent.
Locating a facility in a rural area without a pre-existing infrastructure is simply financially irresponsible…
LINK - DailyDemocrat.com
July 13, 2008
Opinion: “Get-tough policies cause more crime, deny inmates a future”
U.S. taxpayers spend at least $60 billion a year on a growing body of state and federal prisons, county jails and local lockups. With jail and prison populations that have increased nearly eightfold over the past 35 years, the United States has become the world's leading jailer.
More than one in every 100 U.S. adults is locked up — and 5 million more are on probation or parole. At any given time, one in 32 adults is under the supervision of the criminal justice system.
Tough-on-crime policies, not increases in crime, are mostly responsible. Mandatory drug sentences, three-strike and so-called truth-in-sentencing laws, as well as high recidivism rates, have created our Incarceration Nation…
LINK - FreeP.com (The Detroit Free Press)
July 11, 2008
Open letter to the city of Lemoore (Re: proposed re-entry facility)
I am strongly against the location of a 500-bed re-entry facility within the city of Lemoore. I remind you that two of the five long-term goals mentioned in the city of Lemoore's 2008/09 Operations and Maintenance Budget were: 1. "Preservation: Our Small Town Character" and 2. "Safe Community for Families."
The location of a re-entry facility within the city of Lemoore would be in direct opposition to these long-term goals.
The re-entry facility is to house inmates, from Kings and Fresno counties, during their last year of incarceration in hopes that family ties will enhance their rehabilitation before release. This bold approach towards rehabilitation has many public safety risks to consider…
LINK - TheLeMooreAdvance.com
June 9, 2008
Opinion: “Help law enforcement fight for its state funding”
One of government's primary responsibilities is public safety. To meet that goal requires adequate funding and strong partnerships between law enforcement and business, education, the faith-based community, charitable groups and service clubs, to name a few.
Meeting the challenges of public safety is costly and requires resources not always available due to a lack of adequate funding…
LINK - ModBee.com (The Modesto Bee)
June 4, 2008
Opinion: “Prison funding high”
Now that Governor Schwarzenegger is in his final days of office, we finally get to see him for the "girly man" he is.
Why else would he cut the state's education budget while refusing to stand up to the all-powerful California Correctional Peace Officers Association? This is one of the most powerful unions in California. It lobbies for increased wages and perks, even though the Department of Corrections has some of the highest paid jobs in the state.
Don't believe it? Go onto the Sacramento Bee's Web site and search for highest paying state jobs outside the UC system. And be prepared to get angry. There you will see page after page of psychiatrists and other Department of Corrections officials earning in excess of $200,000…
LINK - PasadenaStarNews.com
April 30, 2008
Put for-profit detention centers on ICE (Opinion)
In 2007, the U.S. Immigration and Custom Enforcement (ICE) rounded up more than 30,000 immigrants in raids. While more than 186,000 immigrants were deported in 2006, an alarming 300,000 were detained in immigrant detention centers, such as the T. Don Hutto Center in Taylor, in 2007 alone. According to ICE, the purpose of immigrant detention centers is to "detain and remove criminal and other deportable aliens … in part of the strategy to deter illegal immigration and protect public safety."
Despite what ICE ostensibly promotes, these for-profit detention centers are not achieving their intended goals, as they do not create a disincentive for coming to the U.S. The risk of crossing over illegally is a small price to pay for the safety and high labor demand on the other side of the border. Additionally, undocumented immigrants are often hesitant to report crimes to authorities due to the fear of being detained, in which case detention centers may be hindering communities more than helping them.
Privatized detention centers are going up all over the United States as a way to deal with the growing number of undocumented immigrants. As a result, not only are we detaining immigrants in our country, but because of the move toward privatization, these facilities are able to make a profit from these prisoners. The industry leader, Corrections Corporation of America, has seen its stock price rise to as much as $22 a share, and in 2006 its revenue was $1.3 billion with profits of $105 million. According to industry experts, in order to make a profit these companies not only need to ensure that more prisons are built, but also need to keep them filled to an estimated 90-to 95-percent capacity rate. These for-profit detention centers demand immigrants' bodies and labor, and it is disturbing to think about how this demand will be met…
LINK - DailyTexanOnline.com (The Daily Texan - Online)
April 26, 2008
Chad wards hardened criminals, not kids
The Record is to be thanked for its coverage of juvenile justice ("Criminally stagnant," Monday).
Having worked in the Division of Juvenile Justice for more than 20 years as a youth correctional peace officer, it has been clear to me throughout my career that there are pro-ward advocates who do not fully understand the dynamics of what really goes on inside a youth correctional facility.
In the article, Prison Law Office attorney Sara Norman is quoted as referring to the young men confined at the N.A. Chaderjian Youth Correctional Facility as kids. Jakada Imani of Books Not Bars is quoted as describing them as young children. The wards at Chad and several other state youth correctional facilities are 18 and older. They are not kids or children…
LINK - RecordNet.com (Opinion)
April 11, 2008
Opinion: “Dangerously overcrowded; State needs to act now”
A stabbing attack on four officers at the California Correctional Institution near Bakersfield last week should come as a surprise to no one.
Overcrowded prisons are powder kegs.
The state Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation knows it, the governor knows it and the general public knows it.
What no one seems to know, however, is what can be done to ease the situation…
LINK - TheReporter.com
March 5, 2008
Tuolumne County “Gets in Bed” with CDCR for Re-entry Facility
By a unanimous 5-0 vote this morning the Tuolumne County Board of Supervisors approved CAO Craig Pedro's recommendation that it is premature to move forward with a jail construction project at this time.
However, for the purpose of ensuring that the county would still be considered for all future state grant funding cycles, Pedro recommended that the county prepare and submit an application for AB 900 funding (the maximum allowable amount for a rural county is $30 million)…
LINK - MyMotherLode.com
February 20, 2008
Shasta County: Re-entry site rejected
Consideration of a state re-entry facility in Shasta County for rehabilitating prison inmates and reducing repeat offenders died quickly Tuesday, with the county Board of Supervisors voting 5-0 against it.
Several residents who attended Tuesday's morning and afternoon board meetings called the re-entry facility a prison in disguise. Others likened the state's plan to a biting rattlesnake or a Trojan horse. Most agreed that by any name or appearance, it wasn't to be trusted. "Making it look like a Marriott doesn't make it a Marriott," said resident Dan Freitag…
LINK - Redding.com
February 20, 2008
Assemblyman Bill Maze: “Summary parole is a bad budget idea.”
Protecting citizens from those who seek to do harm is not only a legitimate role of government, it's the primary role. As an elected member of the State Assembly, I have a bird's eye view of how the Legislature works and can attest that oftentimes, we miss the mark.
As a case in point, I am deeply troubled that our public safety could be threatened under a dangerous plan proposed by the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation that would create a new category of prisoner release called "summary parole." Under this plan, parolees would no longer be supervised or tracked by parole officers, nor could they be sent back to prison for violating the terms of their parole, such as abusing drugs or obtaining deadly weapons…
LINK - VisaliaTimesDelta.com
February 20, 2008
Opinion: “Government Day”
Did you notice how light traffic was in the Victor Valley Monday morning? If you did, it was probably because you had to go to work, since almost all businesses, particularly retail operations, were open. So who was staying home and off the roads early in the morning? Government employees. City Halls were shut down, as were schools, the county, federal government offices, and various and sundry other places financed by the taxpayers. They were on holiday; it was Presidents Day.
The government's work force is the fastest-growing sector of employment in the United States. It also, as it happens, is the most heavily unionized. Some 95 percent of all government workers are union members…
LINK - VVDailyPress.com
February 20, 2008
Van Tran: “Keep watch on paroled felons”
Like food and shelter, being safe from crime is a basic necessity. All the opportunity, happiness and prosperity in the world is meaningless if you can't take a walk in your neighborhood or feel safe at home. Public safety has always been my top priority in Sacramento. I've strongly supported protections like Jessica's Law, Megan's Law and Three Strikes, to keep criminals locked up where they belong and protect Orange County families.
But under a dangerous proposal by the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation to create a new category of parole called "summary parole," our safety could be at risk. Under the proposal, felons convicted of any number of serious crimes would no longer be supervised by law enforcement while they are on parole…
LINK - OCRegister.com
February 19, 2008
Opinion: “Fear is a poor reason to reject re-entry facility”
Under a law passed last year, the state Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation plans to build "secure re-entry facilities" around California as part of a push to improve inmate rehabilitation. The idea is to take convicts approaching the end of their prison terms and offer focused programs - from counseling to job assistance - to help them live a straight life on the outside.
The state hopes to ease prison overcrowding by cutting the extraordinary number of ex-cons who end up back behind bars. But if successful, the re-entry program would benefit local communities because those freed inmates would be committing fewer crimes…
LINK - Redding.com
