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October 29, 2008
You can reform California's penal system!
Dear Friend of FCL,
Crime rates in California are at historically low levels, but Halloween is rapidly approaching, and you undoubtedly are hearing lots of scary sounds coming from your television set. On Tuesday, you have the opportunity to decide the future of our state’s criminal justice system. When deciding how you will vote, we urge you to consider the following:
• California warehouses prisoners and fails to provide adequate programming in order to prepare them for successful re-entry. As a result, seventy percent of prisoners will return to prison within three years, the highest recidivism rate in the nation.
• Our prisons are at 195 percent of capacity, and federal judges may order early releases as a result of the legislature’s failure to reduce overcrowding.
• The corrections budget in California has doubled in just six years. In fact, California now spends more for prisons than it does for the California State University and University of California systems combined.
Who benefits from the status quo? Certainly not California communities. When in doubt, follow the money!
With the help of the California Correctional Peace Officers Association (aka the “prison guards union”) which has donated $1 million to the No on Proposition 5 campaign and $825,000 to an independent expenditure committee, opponents of Proposition 5 have taken to the airwaves to scare California voters into voting against the measure.
Opponents are deceptively claiming that Proposition 5 gives drug dealers and persons convicted of violent offenses a “get out of jail free” card (click here to read an op-ed in the Los Angeles Times that debunks the deceptive claims ). They also claim that providing drug treatment and programming is too costly.
To the contrary, Proposition 5 expands drug treatment, including the creation of the first statewide drug treatment program for at-risk youth. It also provides re-entry services to prisoners before and after leaving prison in order to reduce recidivism. Moreover, the Voter Guide analysis by the nonpartisan Legislative Analyst’s Office indicates that the costs of implementing the expanded programming would be offset by reduced incarceration costs and the costs of building new prisons.
But there's more . . . .
Proposition 6 creates 30 new sentencing enhancements and would allow juveniles as young as 14 to be tried as adults for some crimes. Proposition 9 would amend California’s constitution to prohibit early releases to relieve prison overcrowding. Its hidden agenda is to promote new prison construction under the guise of providing services to the victims of crime.
California can ill afford to continue down this unsustainable path. The responsible way to reduce prison overcrowding is to provide drug treatment and re-entry services that reduce recidivism.
TAKE ACTION NOW!
1) The FCL Board of Directors urges you to vote Yes on Proposition 5, No on Proposition 6 and No on Proposition 9.
2) Please help FCL get the word out by forwarding this alert to your family and friends.
Click here to read FCL's recommendations for November 2008 General Election.
Additional resources:
Click here to read an Op-Ed by former Corrections Secretary and San Quentin Warden Jeanne Woodford in support of Proposition 5.
Click here to read "The California Prison Disaster," from the New York Times.
Yes On Proposition 5
No On 6
No On 9
Sincerely yours,
Jim Lindburg
Legislative Advocate
Friends Committee on Legislation
717 K St., Suite 500-B
Sacramento, CA 95814
(916) 443-3734
Click Here to Donate to the FCL
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