By Samantha McGirr
The Public Press
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has proposed a controversial method for alleviating California’s soaring deficits: reducing the population of state prisons by 27,000, CBS 5 reported Wednesday.
This reduction would be accomplished by moving some inmates to county jails and by releasing others, including aging and ailing inmates, to home confinement.
His administration said the plan would save California $1.2 billion, putting a dent in the state’s $26.3 billion deficit.
Strong opposition from the Republican Party has removed the prison proposal from the budget-balancing agreement they will consider Thursday, and leaders from both parties said they would revisit the issue in August.
Republican lawmakers are not the only ones opposing the governor’s plan. Union officials for law enforcement warn that the early release of prisoners will put the public at risk and increase crime rates.
A Rand Corporation study found that an average prisoner on early release commits 13 new crimes before being re-arrested, amounting to 245,000 new crimes in the next 36 months if California releases the proposed 27,000 prisoners.
The president of the Los Angeles Police Protective League, Paul Weber, estimated that the early release program would cost taxpayers $4 billion over three years and would take a “much greater toll” on the state in terms of “the pain and suffering of victims, their families and our communities.”
