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This story is taken from Opinion at sacbee.com. <br><br>
<br>
Editorial: Another report? No need<br>
Existing reports tell the tale about prisons<br>
- (Published February 6, 2004)<br>
Memo to: Governor Schwarzenegger<br><br>
<br>
Subject: Reports, old and new<br><br>
<br>
Another day, yet another prison horror story. This time, it involves
an<br>
inmate who bled to death in his cell at Corcoran State Prison on
Super<br>
Bowl Sunday. Although he howled through the night and one guard asked
a<br>
superior if he should check on the inmate, apparently no one
bothered<br>
until the next morning. The inmate was found dead, in a pool of
blood<br>
that had drained out of his body and seeped onto the floor outside
his<br>
cell. The death is yet another graphic example of lethal
incompetence<br>
and neglect in California's prisons.<br><br>
<br>
The question, governor, is what do you plan to do about it?<br><br>
<br>
Earlier this week, you told a radio interviewer that you wanted to
name<br>
another panel to examine prisons. You now appear to be backing way
from<br>
that idea. That's good. Frankly, governor, you don't need a new
report<br>
on the subject.<br><br>
<br>
In the past decade, plenty of reports have been written. Those
reports,<br>
now gathering dust in government offices around the state, document<br>
waste, fraud, abuse and outright criminal conduct in the prison
system.<br><br>
<br>
Before you order up any new reports, here's a suggestion: Check out
the<br>
list of suggested readings below. Then, settle into a comfortable
chair<br>
this weekend for some extended reading.<br><br>
<br>
You should begin with the recent report by John Hagar. He's the
special<br>
master appointed by a federal judge. His report depicts a prison
system<br>
dominated by the prison guards union and alleges criminal acts by
some<br>
of the Department of Corrections' highest officials.<br><br>
<br>
That report should make it clear why the state simply can't afford
to<br>
wait for you to assemble another team of "experts." As Steve
White, the<br>
former inspector general for the Department of Corrections and now
a<br>
Sacramento Superior Court judge, says, a new "commission will
simply<br>
delay action already long overdue."<br><br>
<br>
After you finish reading, you might want to spend a bit of time<br>
considering who advised you to form an "independent commission"
on<br>
prisons. Was it the same advisers who counseled you to dismantle
the<br>
Office of Inspector General? If so, you should get yourself some
new<br>
advisers.<br><br>
<br>
The Office of Inspector General has consistently investigated and<br>
reported wrongdoing within Corrections. Anyone who counsels you to
shut<br>
it down wants to stall reform in the hope that the prison scandals
will<br>
fade from the headlines, and that the public will forget.<br><br>
<br>
If your advice came from legislators, check out who contributed to
their<br>
election campaigns. Chances are the contributors included the
California<br>
Correctional Peace Officers Association, the prison guards union
whose<br>
members have benefited handsomely from the status quo.<br><br>
<br>
Corrections is bleeding money that the state doesn't have. Inmates
and<br>
correctional officers alike are in danger. There is no shortage of<br>
information about these problems. What's lacking is the political
will<br>
to fix them.<br><br>
<br>
You say, governor, that you want to stop "the corruption going on
...<br>
the overspending ... the code of silence." If you really want to
do<br>
that, stop dismantling the Office of Inspector General and ask the<br>
federal courts for help. Ask the courts to send in a monitor with
wide<br>
authority to help honest and capable prison administrators take
control<br>
of a prison system that has gone badly awry.<br><br>
<br>
But first, take a few hours and do some reading. You won't find the<br>
subject matter entertaining, but it certainly will be
enlightening.<br><br>
<br><br>
------------------------------------------------------------------------<br>
--------<br><br>
<br><br>
California's prison crisis: Recommended reading<br><br>
<br>
Governor:<br><br>
<br>
This list includes investigative reports and audits compiled by
various<br>
agencies and institutions since 1994. It does not include more than
two<br>
dozen investigative reports by the state Office of the Inspector<br>
General, many of which include allegations of criminal misconduct.
Some<br>
of those reports have not been made public, but you and your staff
have<br>
access to them.<br><br>
<br>
* Draft Report Re: Departments of Corrections Investigations and<br>
Employee Discipline; Federal Special Master, January 2004.<br><br>
<br>
* Back to the Community, Safe and Sound Parole Policies; Little
Hoover<br>
Commission, November 2003.<br><br>
<br>
* Survey of Educational Programs at California Department of
Corrections<br>
Level IV Institutions; Office of the Inspector General, July
2003.<br><br>
<br>
* Management Review Audit: California Substance Abuse Treatment
Facility<br>
and State Prison Corcoran, California; Office of the Inspector
General,<br>
January 2003.<br><br>
<br>
* California Department of Corrections: A shortage of Correctional<br>
Officers, Along With Costly Agreement Provisions, Raises both Fiscal
and<br>
Safety Concerns and Limits Management's Control; State Auditor,
July<br>
2002.<br><br>
<br>
* California Department of Corrections: Its Fiscal Practices and<br>
Internal Controls are Inadequate to Ensure Fiscal Responsibility;
State<br>
Auditor, November 2001.<br><br>
<br>
* Department of Corrections: Though Improving, the Department Still
Does<br>
not Identify and Serve All Parolees Needing Outpatient Clinic
Program<br>
Services, but Increased Caseloads Might Strain Clinic Resources;
State<br>
Auditor, August 2001.<br><br>
<br>
* California Department of Corrections: Poor Management Practices
have<br>
Resulted in Excessive Personnel Costs; State Auditor, January
2000.<br><br>
<br>
* Wasco State Prison: Its failure to Proactively Address Problems
in<br>
Critical Equipment, Emergency Procedures and Staff Vigilance Raises<br>
Concerns About Institutional Safety and Security; State Auditor,
October<br>
1999.<br><br>
<br>
* Prisons Industry Authority: Its outside Purchase of Goods and
Services<br>
is Neither Well Planned nor Cost Effective; State Auditor,
September<br>
1998.<br><br>
<br>
* California Department of Corrections: The Cost of Incarcerating<br>
Inmates in State Run Prisons is Higher Than the Department's
Published<br>
Cost; State Auditor, September 1998.<br><br>
<br>
* Early Intervention Program: Flaws found in the 1997 Report On the<br>
Benefits of Early Intervention; State Auditor, April 1998.<br><br>
<br>
* Beyond Bars, Correctional Reforms to Lower Prison Cost and Reduce<br>
Crime; Little Hoover Commission, January 1998.<br><br>
<br>
* Prison Industry Authority: Has Failed to Take Significant
Corrective<br>
Action on Many State Auditor Recommendations; State Auditor, August<br>
1997.<br><br>
<br>
* Prison Industry Authority: Statutory and Cost Control Problems<br>
Adversely Affect the State; State Auditor, April 1996.<br><br>
<br>
* Boot Camps: An Evolving Alternative to Traditional Prisons;
Little<br>
Hoover Commission, January 1995.<br><br>
<br>
* Putting Violence Behind Bars: Redefining the Role of California<br>
Prisons; Little Hoover Commission, January 1994.<br><br>
<br><br>
<br><br>
Rose Braz, Director<br>
Critical Resistance<br>
1904 Franklin St.,Ste. 504<br>
Oakland, CA 94612<br>
510.444.0484<br>
fax 510.444.2177<br>
email: rose@criticalresistance.org <br><br>
<br>
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