[Ppnews] "Prison Overcrowding"- New Article by Kalima Aswad

[Political Prisoner News]

Prison Overcrowding: A Partial Solution
By Kalima Aswad

         Overcrowding in California prisons is one of the hot topics 
these days in
public discussion.  What to do with the many thousands of men and women
who have over-populated the system to the point where it reached the
crisis stage has yet to be answered.
         Federal courts have now found it necessary to intervene because it has
become so bad that proper medical care, among other things, is nearly
impossible to obtain.  The state has been forced to admit that the
overwhelming number of people in California's prisons has also had a big
impact on its inability to provide rehabilitation and other programs in an
increasingly out-of-control and expensive system.
         The problems California faces with federal courts over 
overcrowding did
not come about by accident.  They are the result of political choices to
lock up and keep people imprisoned for much longer periods of time.
         A quartet of governors, George Deukmejian, Pete Wilson, Gray 
Davis, and
now Arnold Schwartzenegger, have overseen a prison construction program
that cut so deeply into the state's annual budget that several essential
services have been cut in order to accommodate the prison system.
         Now, Governor Schwartzenegger has embarked on another plan 
to build even
more.  AB900 authorizes 53,000 beds to be added to the existing 33
prisons.  That is an innocuous-sounding figure, but we should not be
lulled to sleep by it.  What it means is the equivalent of 10 more
prisons, each housing more than 5000 people.
         If the existing system that has resulted in the warehousing of human
flesh and a burden on the taxpayers that has seen schools, libraries,
higher education, health care and even some critical public services such
as police departments, fire stations, road and levee repair suffer because
of the bite prisons have taken up, just think what is in store with at
least 10 more.
         After they get built, then what?  Judging past performances, they will
immediately become filled, then over-populated, and leave the state with
the need to build even more.  The consequences of all the "punishment, not
rehabilitation" is coming back to haunt public well-being.
         The problem has gotten so far out of hand that federal 
courts have gotten
involved.  It is not because the state can't fix its own mess, but
politicians are too weak to resist plans to keep the system growing.
         The mess is too entrenched for any one approach, but one 
thing that would
help the state remain free of the federal takeover would be a release of
the elderly and medically incapacitated.  In addition, they should release
those others who were sentenced under the Indeterminate
Sentencing Law (ISL), who fall under that law and not the laws employed by
governors to keep them locked up.
         The ISL stipulates a timeframe to be used for those who were sentenced
under that particular sentencing law.  It has been said that "this is a
government of laws and not of men."  If that is not a lie about our
government, then why are men in positions of power allowed to circumvent
the laws they are sworn to uphold?
         Governors, including the current one, contend they are "protecting the
public safety by not letting these 'dangerous criminals' out on early
release."  They have also acknowledged in a round about way they are in
violation of the law by claiming "if we have to err, it is better to err
on the side of safety."  They have been able to get away with these sound
bites because we have no effective voice.
         Even if the politicians who are responsible for the current state of
affairs were well-intended, the fact remains there is a big mess and they
have been dishonest with the public in efforts to justify their
violations of the law.
         First, it has been very well known in official circles that 
persons who
have served life sentences are the least likely of all prisoners to commit
other crimes when released from prison. It is known that fewer than 1
percent repeat their crimes and fewer than 3 percent commit any felonies
at all, compared with the over 70 percent return rate among other
prisoners.
         The second myth, in referring to lifers, is the so-called 
"early release"
propaganda.  We hear it in the governor's current speeches, in his fight
to resist federal takeover, in talks about his "refusal to give dangerous
criminals an 'early release' from prison."  The truth is that these are
not early releases by any stretch of the imagination.  Those sentenced
under ISL laws were mentioned earlier, and even the last person sentenced
under it has been eligible for release for 23 years.  Some have been
eligible for parole for thirty, thirty-five, and a few even forty years.
There is nothing early about that.  There are provisions already in place
that allow authorities to reject parole for those lifers who have refused
to adjust their lifestyles to acceptable social norms and there are a few
who do remain committed to their former lifestyles.  The vast majority,
however, has changed their lives around and would fit into the less than 1
percent category if only given a chance.
         An excellent recent example of the warehousing mentality of 
the state's
political machinery is the case of John Rodriguez, an old man serving a
life sentence for second degree murder who I wrote about in a piece
(CALIFORNIA PRISONERS FOR WORTH BIG MONEY) in 1999, discussing how four
men in their eighties had all been termed a "threat to the public
safety."  All but Rodriguez have died in prison.
         Johnny, now 95, is still locked up, and according to Gov. Arnold
Schwartzenegger, is still perceived as a threat to public safety, despite
the fact that his own hand-picked board on six prior occasions found him
suitable for release.  Now, according to an Associated Press release, the
board has found him suitable for a seventh time, leaving the ball in
Schwartzenegger's court once again.
         This is but one in a long line of examples of how politics 
have been used
in building the state prison system into what it has become.  There has
been no accountability for these actions.
         The bottom line is that there are thousands of lifers, elderly, and
medically incapacitated prisoners in California who could be released
without constituting a threat to the public.  It certainly would not be
THE cure for California's overcrowding woes, but their release (if
eligible for release) would provide a benefit in three ways:

1. It would be one of the ways that the state can move to solve its
overcrowding problem so the Feds won't have to step in;
2. It would help alleviate the ability of the federal receiver on medical
issues to help avoid the need for the federal takeover.  ISL prisoners
have grown old and many fit within the elderly category, which constitutes
a huge drain on the medical resources, along with the medically
incapacitated.
3.  It would be a big benefit to the public in that many of those being
released are those who are beyond the stage of committing another crime.

This group, particularly lifers, has been removed from release
consideration.  Yet, each man and woman in this group, the least threat of
all, also suck up the resources that would normally be required for three
young, healthy prisoners, the ones said to be most susceptible as threats
to public safety.  If it seems like a waste of money to keep the elderly,
lifers, and medically incapacitated locked up, then consider using the
huge sums being wasted on them towards rehabilitation of those considered
susceptible.

Kalima  Aswad  (s/n Robert Duren)  # B24120
CMSJ 106L
PO Box 2000
Vacaville, CA 95696-2000




Freedom Archives
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415 863-9977

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