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March 13. 2007
Oppose the governor's prison expansion plan! (letters, E-mails, phone calls needed)
Dear FCL Supporter,
For the third time in a year, Governor Schwarzenegger has proposed a huge expansion in the number of prison and jail beds. This time, the governor is asking for 78,000 new beds, and he is acting with added urgency. A federal judge has given the governor and the legislature until June to come up with a plan to reduce prison overcrowding or else face population caps, which would require the early release of several thousand prisoners. And the federal judge who placed prison health care under federal receivership has said that he is also considering early releases.
The urgency is not tied to any demonstrated threat to public safety, but is intended to divert a potential political "crisis" should either judge order early releases. In late February, Governor Schwarzenegger said that he was considering early releases as a means of reducing overcrowding. When his remarks were met with resistance, he immediately backtracked and stated that he "will not allow the early release of any felons -- violent or non-violent -- as means to address overcrowding."
Releasing some prisoners a few months early will not lead to a new crime wave. Nearly half of the 170,000-plus prisoners incarcerated in the state prison system are serving sentences for nonviolent offenses. Many more pose very little risk to public safety as a result of their redemptive behavior, age, and medical condition. Recently, the governor has made public appearances with local law enforcement officials where it was suggested that early releases will result in a new crime wave and increases in the number of murders. The governor's fear mongering is designed to pressure the legislature into approving his $11 billion prison "reform" plan, a plan that, while it does include some parole reforms, nevertheless relies almost entirely on adding new prison and jail beds. While building new beds could take years to have any significant effect on prison overcrowding, early releases and fixing our state's broken parole system would have a much more immediate impact. Even though providing drug treatment has significantly reduced the number of people serving sentences for low-level drug offenses in state prisons, the governor has included a $25 million cut for drug treatment in his current budget proposal.
Even though we are facing tremendous overcrowding, legislators are currently proposing new sentencing enhancements and new categories of crimes that will increase prison and local jail populations. California does face a prison overcrowding crisis, but it is a manufactured crisis, the result of our state's over-reliance on incarceration as a means to solving social problems. Thirty years of "tough on crime" policies have not made our state safer. There is a growing body of research which indicates that high rates of incarceration lead to higher crime rates, as prisons are incubators of criminal activity. Ever since Folsom Prison was constructed to relieve overcrowding at San Quentin with plans to close San Quentin, building more capacity has only served to temporarily postpone the political fallout that comes with overcrowded prisons.
Unfortunately, the governor's scare tactics appear to be working. The governor and legislative leaders have been meeting behind closed doors, without the benefit of legislative hearings and without input from the public, to cut a deal, which, according to press reports, will emphasize expanded capacity. Prison spending in California now exceeds state spending for the University of California and California State Systems combined. According to the California Budget Project, prison spending has increased at a rate three times that of General Fund spending since 1980. Adding more beds will only make it worse.
Let Governor Schwarzenegger and your legislative leaders know that you oppose his plan to add 78,000 new prison and jail beds. Making a broken system bigger is not reform! Urge greater use of alternatives, such as community-based corrections, alternative sanctions for technical parole violators and more programming and services for prisoners and parolees to promote their successful re-entry into the community.
Letters, emails and phone calls should be directed to:
Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger
State Capitol
Sacramento, CA 95814
Phone: (916) 445-2841
Fax: (916) 445-4633
To E-mail the governor, point your web browser to: http:www.govmail.ca.gov
Senate President pro Tem Don Perata
State Capitol - Room 205
Sacramento, CA 95814
Phone: (916) 651-4009
Fax: (916) 327-1997
To E-mail Senator Perata,
point your web browser to:
http://legplcms01.lc.ca.gov/PublicLCMS/ContactPopup.aspx?district=SD09
Senate Minority Leader Dick Ackerman
State Capitol - Room 305
Sacramento, CA 95814
Phone: (916) 651-4033
Fax: (916) 445-9754
To E-mail Senator Ackerman,
point your web browser to:
http://republican.sen.ca.gov/web/33/feed.asp
Assembly Speaker Fabian Núñez
State Capitol - Room 219
Sacramento, CA 95814
Phone: (916) 319-2046
Fax: (916) 319-2146
E-mail: Assemblymember.nunez@assembly.ca.gov
Assembly Minority Leader Michael Villines
State Capitol - Room 3104
Sacramento, CA 95814
Phone: (916) 319-2029
Fax: (916) 319-2129
E-mail: Assemblymember.villines@assembly.ca.gov
Sincerely yours,
Jim Lindburg
Friends Committee on Legislation of California
717 K St., Suite 500-B
Sacramento, CA 95814
http://www.fclca.org
E-mail: JimL@fclca.org
Phone: (916) 443-3734
Fax: (916) 448-6109
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