On top of California having a house of cards budget, we also have a mandate from a US District Court to release 43,000 of our current prison population of 158,000 inmates over the next two years due to overcrowding in our state prisons. Governor Schwarzenegger has 45 days in which to come up with a plan. The catalyst for this mandate relates to the alleged “unconstitutional prison health care system.”
But wait a minute. Having listened to the commercial featuring LA Dodgers slugger Manny Ramirez saying “I’m back” you should also acknowledge that 70 percent of these soon to be released prisoners will be back in custody. That’s right. The recidivism rate in CA, the highest in the nation, is around 70 percent. In CA 7 out of 10 released prisoners return within three years of their release date.
Note: Recidivism representing the percentage of former prisoners who are re-arrested. Therefore to speed up prisoners entry and discharge, we should install revolving doors at each of our prison entrances.
California has 32 state prisons located from Pelican Bay near the Oregon border, “designed to house California’s most serious criminal offenders,” to the R.J. Donovan Correctional Facility in San Diego.
Let’s see. Manny was suspended for 50 games which translated into roughly 60 calendar days. I would opine that many of the soon to be released prisoners would be back in the courts in less time than it took before Manny ran to his position in left field at Chavez Ravine.
While we have heard many suggestions for solving this housing crisis, such as sending them to Sheriff Joe Arpaio in Arizona or to Mexican jails where incarceration costs would be considerably less, what recommendations do Juice drinkers have for our governor?
Like Manny they will return. While it may not be on Arnold’s watch early release will not solve the bigger problem in our state of making sure that “if you do the crime you’ll do the time” which is costing taxpayers around $36,000 per year per inmate.
As I copy Arnold on all of my posts where he is named I will gladly forward your comments to his office.
Job training, Drug Treatment, Schooling and perhaps ending the drug war.
Do not incarserate drug offenders send them to mandatory treatment for at least 1 year. Put them in detox or jail for long enought to get clean if they screw up, which many will.
It is much more punishment in the mind of an addict that they cannot get the next fix, than it is to be facing years in prison. Keep taking the fix away and force them to detox. This is much cheaper than 36K a year and probally will have a more positive result in a shorter period of time.
Try taking cigarettes away from a person everytime you catch them smoking then lock them up for a week without cigarettes, chew, nicotine gum or patches. How many times would it take? A few I would think. Cigarettes are harder to quit than any other addictive substance, and I am sure that after 15 or 20 times the vasy majority would quit smoking.
Jim,
CA already sends our drug offenders to rehab, and not jail. If you are locked up for drugs you a lot more than just “use”
Most people that use get in crashes, commit petty thief or other forms of thief, deal drugs etc to support thier habit. If the crime is a violent offense of course they should go to prison.
But there are thousands that have committed non-violent felony crimes that could be put into these type of programs that are currently incarserated.
Additionally When anyone that is released they should go into a program of weekly mandatory drug testing and meetings or treatment. If the fail a test they get to spend a week in Jail or detox drying out. It may take several times but suring will not fail at anywhere near the 70% rate we currently have.
They should also have to pass a GED test, get a job or do public service 20-40 hour a week. Attend job training if needed. Same penality one week in Jail for missing public service or losing a job.
Yes a bit extra money to start perhaps, but long term we cannot contiune to add 5-10 thousand a year to the prison population at 36k each
Jim and Mark.
How many law abiding Californians are currently out of work? And should the federal court mandate releasing these 43,000 prisoners into our state can someone tell me what they will do to survive?
This reminds me of the Supremes, no, not Diane, the US Supreme’s, responding to our challenge on eminent domain where they said it is not their call to make as to whether or not future redevelopment projects, where people are displaced, become successes.
Careful Larry. Don’t get into a discussion of activist judges.
Let them loose and see what happens to our crime stats. Even those who have served their time surely are not finding the welcome mat rolled out for them after they have been released.