CA: Plan to free state prison inmates moves ahead

Source: SFC


The state Senate on Thursday narrowly approved a prison bill brokered by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and Democratic lawmakers that would save the state $525 million this year by reducing the prison population by 27,000 inmates.

The legislation includes controversial plans such as allowing nonviolent elderly and sick inmates to finish their sentences outside prison walls in homes or community hospitals, where they would be monitored with GPS devices. The bill also includes the creation of a sentencing commission that would revamp the state's punishment and parole rules.

Republicans argued strongly against the bill.

"If this becomes law, the people of California will become less safe, pure and simple," said Sen. Tony Strickland, R-Thousand Oaks (Ventura County).

GOP lawmakers also warned that the sentencing commission, which would include a nonvoting former inmate, would weaken the state's tough-on-crime laws.

"You have the gall to put a felon on there?" Senate Republican leader Dennis Hollingsworth of Murrieta (Riverside County) asked Democrats during the spirited and contentious debate.

Close vote
After more than four hours, the Senate voted 21-19 to approve the bill, barely clearing the simple-majority hurdle.

The Assembly adjourned at midnight Thursday without debating the bill and will return Monday.


Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2009/08/21/MNQS19BFR3.DTL

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CNBC had a CEO from a private prison on yesterday complaining that if CA releases prisoners it will be bad for business because they depend on the overcrowding to get inmates.

So we can assume that the private prison companies are lobbying hard this weekend to keep their welfare checks coming.

"CNBC had a CEO from a private prison on yesterday complaining that if CA releases prisoners it will be bad for business because they depend on the overcrowding to get inmates."

*sigh*

for those heartless GOP assholes

They barely felt the recession.

as California has no private prisons so I'm not sure how it would be bad for the private prison industry. :shrug:

California already houses more than 7,600 prisoners in privately run prisons in four states.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2009-08-17-michigan-prison_N.htm

:wtf:

where the drug laws allow them to 'mellow' and chill out.

California will be another test bed in the way crime and punishment is rewarded. Maybe the well to do will put up blast walls to keep the ne re do wells out.

..."bring the troops home NOW" will seem an ironic slogan in a year or two.

jmo

"If guns were outlawed, only outlaws would have guns"

hmmm

they can go visit another country and attend school for awhile. we can just say they are 'big for their age' and no one will be the wiser

:shrug:

sell tickets, collect revenue for the popcorn and beer sales.

Say fight in groups of ten until only one is left, the he gets his freedom.

Reduce the prison population, raise state revenues, and ensure that only the strongest, most violent criminals are let free. Hmm, on second thought that may be a less than stellar idea.

It was called Running Man, and Arnold was in it.

so it hasn't happened, yet.

A game that uses real people from prisons to kill each other in an urban warlike setting. They're physically manipulated by people who control them playing the games. The winner earns his freedom. Gerard Butler stars in it.

They commit murder, lie, cheat and steal and they remain on the loose. They just pay off the judges. Funny how anyone that speaks the truth publicly seems to "commit suicide" unexpectedly. They count on the cheap labor provided them from jails. That's why they like to imprison harmless pot smokers. They can use them, pay them a couple of bucks if anything and don't have to be afraid of them. Just ask Cheney. He's been making money off of them for years. Half of the people in prison probably don't even belong there. Some are innocent, some mentally ill and should be hospitalized, many receive punishments that do NOT fit the crime. Commit murder and you can be out in 4 years or less. Smoke pot and get 10 years. Rob someone at gunpoint and you can get life without parole. These bastards have been screwing this country long enough. It's our turn to start screwing them. Personally, I'm loving watching them squirm. Since WE are THEIR bosses...FIRST STEP: VOTE THEM OUT OF OFFICE ASAP!

Which I gather would be the perfect Republican solution.

my ex husband is in prison for 6 years for a big charge and has another warrant/parole violation that he will have to serve (hopefully) when that is over. Which actually has allowed me & the kids to breathe - knowing he isn't lurking around every corner despite the restraining order...

So now, if he is let out because of overcrowding...I will be looking over my shoulder once again.

It sucks, and while I am sure the inmates don't 'deserve' to be overcrowded or in harm's way... i would rather he rot in there, personally.

People act like those prisoners would otherwise be behind bars forever. They won't.

Why is it a crime threat to let a guy out of prison after two years instead of three? I don't get it.

In your case, where you apparently fear for your safety, I can understand your concern, but the guy is going to get out someday. Then what?

How long does it take for me to get back on my feet and relocate? how long to get all the proverbial ducks in a row so that I can feel safer about his release?

in this case it is the difference between now and 2013 or so... that's a big difference


and the concept to me is not that 'he's gonna get out eventually ANYWAY"
it is that he DESERVES to be in prison for his crimes

a slap on the hand and release in one year of a 8 year sentence is not sufficient,
and the bastard already had that chance and broke parole to engage in even BIGGER criminal activity
...so where's the lesson learned or the rehabilitation?

By the time he is released I bet he will be so 'institutionalized" that he will be back IN before a year has passed..."three squares and a bed" is better than the struggle to have a job, an apt, or a real LIFE for some of these guys.

It's sad, but true

This time he'll be forced to commit crimes. The job market is drying up like dust in a drought.

There may also be hearings or some other venue for potential or former victims to protest the release or parole of felons. It's unlikely that they'd simply release your ex-husband knowing that he's violated parole and refuses to abide by a restraining order.

Still, our justice system isn't perfect, and your fear is understandable. I hope that everything works out for you and that this dangerous criminal is kept in prison where he belongs.

So a few bad eggs slip through "the net" I wonder how the media will spin it if some poor 'fellow' is discovered breaking the law and was "an early out" of the governator
:sarcasm:

Because when they got in it was for criminal behavior (I'm not counting pot heads here) but the economy in California has tanked and the jobs have dried up and even without these releases from prison crime is going to escalate because it's the only way to get money or survive. The criminals will be the ones who survive because they'll prey on everyone else.

then fingerpoint *co for destroying the country in the first place.
:sarcasm:

If they retroactively commuted the sentences of all the potheads to "time served" and let them out, how many people would we be talking about?

How about if we made the maximum jail time for ALL drug crimes 5 years, and let out everyone who had been there for more than 5 years?

What if we had all the drug criminals pay a fine, such as $10,000 per violation?

Seriously, the war on drugs is like the war on terror: it's unwinnable and it's just a huge money drain.