Overcrowding Bill

After watching the Yankee game, I turned on the radio since I had nothing to read and listened to the news station broadcast from San Francisco. This is one of the three AM stations I receive – one is an all sports station out of SF and the other is a talk show station out of Las Vegas. I heard a very interesting report regarding the newly passed bill for the overcrowding of the prison’s relief. It was an interview with a newspaper reporter out of Sacramento who covers the state legislature. This reporter was saying the bill was pushed through both houses so fast (within 12 hours of final resolution) that he doubted most legislators actually read the bill. He related this to something out of Chicago where they notoriously push bills through without much study. The reporter went on to give more specifics on the bill and also stated that the reason why the bill was pushed through so fast was due to the fact that the Prison Guards Union was against it. If the legislators had more time to decide on the bill it would have failed because the very powerful prison union would have rallied to defeat it. Apparently, the creators of the bill knew this and this is why it went through so fast. He didn’t get into why they are against the bill, but I can only guess and say the bill dilutes their power.

The other interesting fact about the interview was the specifics of the bill. Apparently, it is a two-part plan. The first part includes the immediate creation of 18,000 new beds at existing prisons throughout the state. The second part of the plan is predicated on rehabilitative goods through Programs. Once these goals are achieved, an additional 35,000 new prison beds are added. The entire bill costs seven billion dollars and based on what the reporter was saying, he very much doubts the second phase of the plan will make it since any rehabilitative goals in the past have NEVER been achieved. Finally, the reporter brought up that the core issues of sentencing and parole reforms were not addressed in the bill. These are the real issues for the overcrowding problem and the fact that they weren’t addressed leads me to believe the State Legislature has put a band-aid in place where a body cast was needed.

The one issue I was most wanting to hear regarding how the Federal Judge fits into this new plan was not talked about. From this report, it seems the legislators needed to do something regarding the overcrowding situation in the California Prisons but fell woefully short. I’m not sure how they can add any beds to an already overcrowded situation. To me this is compounding the problem. The situation is already bad and now it is going to get worse. I do wonder if the Federal Judge ever has any jurisdiction over this new plan. Does this mean that this bill is now in place and the overcrowding issue has been resolved? I don’t have the answers to these questions, but something does not seem right. I guess over the next month I will have answers to my questions regarding whether the Federal Judge is set to rule on the overcrowding matters on June 4th. The general consensus inside here is the Federal Judge will see right through the state’s current plan, but these aren’t objective points of views. All I can say is based on what I have heard the problem has not been fixed and will only get worse. No politician wants to release any felon, but what will be the real cost when this problem is finally resolved? This probably won’t happen for another 10 years and hopefully California’s economy keeps streaming along because the potential costs of incarcerating over 200,000 prisoners are staggering and has a potential of bankrupting the state.

Since there was only 35 minutes to the evening yard, my friend and I walked and talked about the overcrowding bill and how he believes the Federal Judge will see through this plan and will ultimately take over the prison system. I’m not sold on this concept because I feel I am missing some information. We also talked about getting to Fire Camp. My friend finished his requirements one week ago and is ready to be transferred. It would not surprise me he is transferred this week and it would be great if we were transferred to the same Fire Camp together! We arrived here over 6 months together and it would be wonderful to leave together. We also talked about a former Instructor who was transferred to Fire Camp last week and after two days, he was sent back here for talking back to a CO. As I told my friend the story about the Instructor, he also agreed that it wasn’t very smart on his part. My friend also subscribes to the theory of keeping his mouth shut in the presence of authority!