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Editorial
Here come the judges to tell California what to do with its overcrowded
prisons
In the absence of acceptable answers from Sacramento, three federal judges are about to step in and decide what the state must do. There's misinformation, alarmist scenarios, blunt assessments and enormous pressure from all sides of this complex issue. And San Joaquin County is caught in the middle. The most likely next development is federal oversight, which could include a cap on inmate admissions. The state prison system, which houses 172,000 inmates, is packed to almost twice its intended capacity. Solutions from those responsible for the state prison system are all but impossible because of the grip of so many interest groups. Those doing business in and with correctional facilities - the prison guard union, construction companies and various vendors - have been described as the "prison-industrial complex" by author Eric Schlosser, who is writing a book about California's troubled system. Those groups represent a mind-set more focused on self-interest and profit than rehabilitation, and they have used the lure of big money to buy influence among lawmakers. The result is a conundrum, a state on pathways that never intersect. So in California, voters approve a tough-on-crime "three strikes" law that adds to the number of incarcerations each year, but the Legislature does nothing to accommodate the subsequent rise in prisoners. The state built 19 prisons before "three strikes" was passed in 1994. It has only built two prisons since. A large portion of the prison population is treated for drug and alcohol abuse and mental-health issues - a social-services job that could be handled more cheaply elsewhere. The delivery of medical services inside the state's prisons is so poor that it already has been put into federal receivership. There is no road map to improvement. The three-judge panel has indicated California's leaders are on the wrong track for solving the prison crisis. In essence, the state Legislature's$7.4 billion prison expansion plan, hammered out in May by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and the Democratic leadership, has been rejected. If the judges call for a cap on the inmate population and the early release of some prisoners, there will be huge public outcry. Critics already are engaging in scare tactics. Legal negotiations to avoid federal intervention are ongoing but not promising. It's exactly this kind of dithering that has brought California to the precipice. As legislators and policymakers cast about for quick fixes, county residents have reason to be alarmed. The federal receiver in charge of inmate health care already has Deuel Vocational Institution listed as a potential site for regional medical and mental-health care. And the former women's prison south of Stockton will be reopened as a re-entry facility for local men serving the final year of their sentences. As local officials voted symbolically in support of those plans, county Supervisor Steve Gutierrez voiced concern that - amid all of the other growing pressures statewide - the facility could one day be converted, even expanded, into a full-scale penitentiary for men. The whole system is a mess, and it's too late for the state to regain control. The best that can be hoped for is a fair and balanced solution. Arbitrarily releasing or turning away prisoners could pose a public-safety threat. It is as irresponsible as the state's failure over the past 15 years to address its treatment of troubled lawbreakers and its failure to address prison capacity. The three-judge panel needs to look at how many federal prisoners are under the state's care (15,000-20,000 by some counts) and at how many inmates are potentially deportable under U.S. law. The judicial panel could begin its work by dealing with federal solutions as a first priority. If the three-judge federal panel gains control of the overall system, it will not be bound by any agreements state officials made with San Joaquin County. If that happens, local officials ought to be ready, even if it's just symbolic, to reverse their endorsement of reopening the women's prison.
Prison cap foes step forward
As California and the federal courts move into uncharted legal territory, sheriffs, prosecutors, probation officers and Assembly Republicans have filed motions to stop a special three-judge panel from imposing a population cap on the state's overcrowded prisons. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, meanwhile, is seeking an emergency stay order to prevent the panel from taking up the matter, pending the administration's appeal of the decision that created the panel in the first place. Regardless of the decision on the stay request, the panel's hearings on the population cap appear to be months away, with the ultimate verdict even further out on the horizon. The inmates' rights lawyers seeking the cap are asking for a Dec. 3 hearing date. The state's attorneys don't want the hearings to begin until April 28. With an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court likely on any final decision rendered by the three-judge panel, the ultimate result on the population cap probably wouldn't be known for at least a year and possibly not until mid-2009, according to a top official in the state attorney general's office. "It depends on how many cases the Supreme Court has on its calendar," said Frances Grunder, the head of the Department of Justice's correctional law unit. "If it doesn't get calendared for 2008, it would get pushed into the next term that begins in October 2008. Then the results would come sometime in 2008 or as late as June 2009." In separate pleadings filed this week in federal courts in Sacramento and San Francisco, the prospective intervenors all asked that the three-judge panel refrain from imposing a prisoner release order until after the state's recently enacted $7.9 billion prison construction plan "has been fully implemented and its efficacy can be fully and fairly assessed." Their court papers also asked that the order be "narrowly drawn" so that it "extends no further than necessary to correct a violation of a federal right" and that it represents "the least intrusive means necessary" to achieve compliance. U.S. District Court Judges Lawrence Karlton and Thelton Henderson on July 23 granted the inmates' rights lawyers' motion to establish the three-judge panel. The attorneys argued that the court was needed to fix prison overcrowding, which they said was making the system's unconstitutional medical and mental health care conditions even worse. Under the Prison Litigation Reform Act, state legislators, prosecutors and law enforcement officials and others are entitled to intervene in the case. In seeking intervenor status, the groups also are asking that the three-judge panel hold off on issuing a prisoner release order unless the plaintiffs show that it would fix the health care violations and that it wouldn't impact public safety in California. Plaintiffs' lawyers have filed papers saying that the "maximum safe and reasonable" operating capacity of the prison system is just under 138,000. The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation currently houses about 173,000 inmates, meaning that the three-judge panel might be asked to consider releasing 35,000 inmates. "It's going to mean that inmates who have already been determined to be a danger to this community and not appropriate for local supervision are going to be released," said Sacramento County District Attorney Jan Scully, one of the 15 prosecutors seeking to intervene in the case. "And we have thousands and thousands of felony probationers in our community now and in our local jails, and we're having challenges with crime as it is. This is not the right result or decision for judges to be making." All but one of the Assembly's 32 GOP members signed on to be intervenors. Twenty-three sheriffs joined in their motion, as did the Chief Probation Officers Association. Donald Specter of the Prison Law Office, one of the plaintiffs' lawyers who sought the three-judge panel, said "it's their right" to intervene. But he disputed the proposed population cap's impact on public safety. "This can be done in a way that is targeted at the prisoners who present the least risk to public safety," Specter said. "It can be done in a way that makes it safer if we have the cooperation of the local communities, if (released inmates) are provided re-entry options." Schwarzenegger's request for the stay with the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals also cites the public safety consideration, saying that the early releases "will likely result in criminal activity in local communities." The Republican governor's motion says that Henderson and Karlton erred in setting up the three-judge panel and that the case has moved into "uncharted territory," with no case law to guide the courts. The appellate courts need to review "this nationally significant order," Schwarzenegger's lawyers argued, "to ensure the proper development of this unsettled area of law." Professor Margo Schlanger, a prison litigation and constitutional law expert at Washington University School of Law in St. Louis, said the governor's appeal may be misplaced, that "the proper body to oppose the convening of the three-judge court is with the three-judge court itself." "But if you can get two bites at the apple, why not try?" Schlanger said. Schwarzenegger's lawyers contend that previous court remedies in the two cases, including the appointment of a receiver to oversee medical care, have not been given enough time to work. The medical care case was resolved in 2002, the mental health case in 1995. If the judges didn't meet the criteria to establish the three-judge panel, then their decision is appealable, said Andrea Hoch, the governor's legal affairs secretary. "This is unprecedented," Hoch said of the case. "California is once again on the cutting edge."
Thursday, August 16, 2007
SACRAMENTO – The chances of substantially easing crowding in California prisons without a precedent-setting federal court order are "close to zero," attorneys for inmates said in court papers filed Wednesday. Currently, more than 173,000 inmates live in 33 state prisons built
to hold fewer than 100,000.
But it seems unlikely that those talks would lead to an agreement to voluntarily lower the overcrowding, the attorneys for both sides said in the court filings in Sacramento and San Francisco federal courts. Two class-action inmate lawsuits led to the appointment of the three-judge panel last month to examine how overcrowding is affecting inmate health care, mental health, services for the disabled and other prison operations. Among the possible remedies are a cap on California's inmate population and the early release of some prisoners. "The prospects for settlement at this time appear close to zero," Prison Law Office Director Don Specter advised the three judges. In preliminary talks with the state's lawyers and prominent state legislators of both political parties, "None of these persons has indicated that a voluntary resolution of the issues raised by these proceedings is a realistic possibility," Specter added. Lack of a settlement means months of evidence-gathering and hearings before a decision by the panel sometime next year. The inmates' attorneys expect to take sworn testimony from Schwarzenegger, among other officials, as part of the proceedings in the months ahead, Specter said. The inmates' attorneys argue that the overcrowding makes it impossible for officials to improve prisoner care that federal judges have ruled is so bad it's unconstitutional. The attorneys suggest – without saying it outright – that tens of thousands of inmates might have to be freed. Fifteen district attorneys – including Orange County's – 31 Republicans in the state Assembly and 23 county sheriffs and chief probation officers went to court this week asking the three-judge panel to avoid ordering the early release of inmates. "Any early release would jeopardize public safety and make a mockery of a system where sentences are expected to be fully served," said Assemblyman Todd Spitzer, R-Orange, on behalf of the Assembly Republicans who are seeking to intervene in the case. Riverside County District Attorney Rod Pacheco urged the special panel to refrain from any release decisions until the state's $7.8 billion plan to build space for 53,000 new prison and jail beds "has been fully implemented and its efficacy can be fully and fairly assessed." "My immediate concerns are that the people we sent to prison will be
released back to Riverside County," Pacheco said. "They were sent to prison
because they were violent, and can jeopardize the lives of the men, women
and children of the community."
What areas of reform will the Prison Cap affect?
All sentencing laws will be forced to change - "all sentencing laws" includes everyone. Laws such as Three Strikes and Prop 83 overflow the prisons. This is why the voting machines that oppose us put them into place. The conveyor belt laws will be forced to change with a Prison Cap. All parole laws must be changed because there will be a limit on the
number of prisoners. They will be forced to get caught up on parole
hearings and change attitudes about who stays in prison.
All medical care will be affected. All treatment of the mentally ill. All rehabilitation and alternative sentencing will be affected Elderly, sick and dying prisoners will never be released unless AB 1539 and the Prison Cap orders this to happen. Compassionate release for anyone is least likely to happen when bodies are needed for the human bondage industry if AB 900 prevails. Other youth in your family will be endangered since new prisons will
require more bodies.
Overcrowding touches everything. If AB 900 is allowed to proceed the sentencing and parole laws will not be reformed, riots, disease and medical neglect will continue because there aren't enough medical staff and the prisons will be operating even more inefficiently, the mentally ill will never be taken out of the system if the prisons need filling with fresh humans, and there won't be enough staff at any level to achieve rehabilitation. Alternative sentencing won't be necessary as the focus will be put on empire building and not fine-tuning the huge mess that exists now. Will it release more serious offenders? Perhaps not but without 6500 willing to work to build a voting group there will never be changes without the force of initiative campaigns and more lawsuits over unconstitutional sentencing. For those with more serious offenses, the Prison Cap is the first step. It identifies the problems to the voters so that future initiatives can pass, it's all going to depend on each one of us how much we can get done beyond what the Prison Cap gives us as a huge jump start on reform. Can you think of other ways that the Prison Cap will affect you personally
if it does or does not pass? A Prison Cap forces incarceration for only
the most violent people, the 70% who shouldn't be in prison at all are
likely to be released. Whether or not we get a Prison Cap is a life
and death matter for all who are in prison or on parole/probation in California.
Paste what you wrote about it at the bottom of this story.
http://nctimes.com/articles/2007/08/15/news/californian/19_27_328_14_07.txt
DA files federal lawsuit to prevent early prisoner releases
RIVERSIDE ---- The county's top prosecutor filed a lawsuit Tuesday in federal court seeking to prevent the early release of inmates because of overcrowding in state prisons. Riverside County District Attorney Rod Pacheco was joined by San Diego County District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis and 13 other district attorneys in the suit, which was filed in United States District Court in both San Francisco and Sacramento. The suit seeks to intervene in other federal lawsuits that led to the appointment of a three-judge panel tasked with recommending solutions to overcrowding, including prison population caps and early release for some prisoners. "We are pleading our case to let these three judges know that early release would be a disaster to the safety of the public," Pacheco said Tuesday evening. In May, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed into law Assembly Bill 900, a prison-reform plan that includes the addition of 53,000 beds to the state's overcrowded prisons, as well as county jails. The $7.8 billion agreement was reached by lawmakers in an effort to prevent the early release of prisoners as well as adding to the rehabilitation of inmates. "We need to let that plan play out before going to the extreme" of early releases, Pacheco said. In the lawsuit, the 15 district attorneys asked that no early release of prisoners be ordered until the prison reform has been implemented and its effects can be fully assessed. It also requests that early releases not be authorized unless there is "clear and convincing evidence" that crowding is violating prisoners' civil rights and that no other action will remedy the violation. The lawsuit also addresses the potential danger early releases would pose to public safety across the state. There is the real possibility, Pacheco said, that tens of thousands of prisoners could be released early if a population cap was put into place by the three-judge panel. Pacheco said he's heard that state prisons currently should house between 125,000 and 132,000 inmates, with the present population being about 170,000. "There is no question we need more prisons and rehabilitation," Pacheco
said.
If early releases were forced, Pacheco says Riverside County would be the hardest hit and potentially see the most harm to public safety. "Riverside County has the largest percentage of prison commitments in the state and the law requires a prisoner be released back to the county which sent him there," Pacheco said. With the lawsuit now filed, the next step, Pacheco says, is having the
motion heard in federal court.
Contact staff writer John Hall at (951) 676-4315, Ext. 2628, or jhall@californian.com
.
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Community News
The Prison Cap is based on our seven year campaign to end medical neglect, the Plata Lawsuits, our 28 lawsuits in progress and what will need to be proved in appeals courts is that people are dying from medical neglect due to overcrowding. This is why we need to know the details and family contact information for all deaths at all state prisons. http://www.1union1.com/prison_cap_campaign.html You as a person who wants to support the Prison Cap have an important role in educating the public to the fact that PEOPLE ARE STILL DYING EVERY DAY in the prisons. The estimate is that one inmate per week is dying a preventable death, but that is simply an estimate. I was sitting in court and noted this testimony. It's in the trial transcripts from Henderson's trial. The truth is that almost nobody, including the legislators and least of all the media has any idea how these deaths come about. The media is banned so they cannot interview specific inmates. The purpose of that of course, is to cover up wrongdoing. This is why when you have a problem, you document everything in writing.
Phone calls are lost in the wind, always follow up with certified letters
if you are forced to have a phone call.
Subject: Inmates' early release worries prosecutors
"My immediate concern is that the people we sent to prison will be released back to Riverside County, "said Riverside County District Attorney Rod Pacheco. Yes, they will be released to Riverside County. That's the county that prosecuted them. This is a ridiculous statement. No one will release violent inmates. Do they think the public are a bunch of uneducated morons. "They were sent to prison because they were violent". Really? That statement is a complete falsehood. Our prisons are packed full of non violent inmates. Is releasing a non violent inmate a couple of months early going to jeopardize our safety? I hardly think so. The truth is that any sentence is a possible death sentence in our poorly ran, overcrowded prisons today. Who has "supplied" the overwhelming numbers to our system? San Bernardino and Riverside Counties of course. All you have to do is look at who is their legislators. Look at who is running these counties. Something doesn't smell right there. It is, to me, a crime to lie to the public. And that is exactly what
these people are doing. Lie, Lie, Lie. I for one, am sick of their scare
tactics and lies. They are no better than the criminals they incarcerate.
To: letters@pe.com
Dear editor:
The $7.8 billion “prison reform” plan, which is 99% expansion (53,000 beds) and 1% reform ($500 million pilot rehabilitation program) will take years to implement and will not fix the overcrowded, dysfunctional and unconstitutional conditions behind prison walls. The plan lacks sentencing and parole reform, which experts agree should be the very foundation of reform. It is clear from the judges’ extensive review of prison mental health and medical care and their subsequent orders for the panel that overcrowding is exacerbating, and hindering improvement of, the deplorable life-threatening conditions. The appealing prosecutors and Assembly members need to stop their fear-mongering and trust the advice of experts and wisdom of the judges. This process can be the impetus toward true reform, which cannot happen in the currently overcrowded, dysfunctional environment. These judges will not release prisoners who are a threat to public safety; they will only exercise such methods as restricting re-incarceration on technical parole violations and allowing 2-4 week-early releases of prisoners already slated for release. Two three-judge panels ( Youngstown, Ohio, and Washington, D.C.) have successfully imposed early release orders. It can be done in California as well. Barbara Christie
Dear Editor: I've lived in many places, and ONLY in California have I seen prosecutors so eager to panic the public and emphasize the highest level of drama they can to keep their fat paychecks growing fatter. I do recall the Riverside County DA bragging about some 98% conviction rate. How many of those were plea bargains and not actual trials? DAs are notorious for creating fear in those being prosecuted, so much so that many plead guilty to crimes they didn't commit. I suggest the citizens operate OBJECTIVE views at this scenario and see what's really going on. California has the highest recidivism rate - look into what constitutes recidivism in California. The MAJORITY of those violations had to do with paperwork - not signing a piece of paper within a certain timeframe, missing probation/parole appointments due to family/personal situations. I am not afraid of 40,000+ "criminals" being released into society. I think it's about time we learn to support these people so that they can have a respectable chance at a better life instead of going out of our way to ensure they fail - such as our current sentencing laws do. Who is going to hold the DA accountable for the millions of lives he's destroyed with false convictions and harsh sentencing for petty crimes? Shella ----------------------------------- letters@pe.com
This man needs to be taken out of office. He is the worst of the worst fear mongers ever let loose on society. Do you not think the State has had plenty of time to fix their problem? They have had 12 years and how many lawsuits. They have violated court order after court order and still they want more time. However time has and is running out for the thousands of inmates dying at their hands. Spitzer does not seem to realize that these inmates have families that love them. They belong to someone, to constantly hear how all inmates are these horrible violent men and women is very damaging to the families not counting what the children think and feel about what this man is saying about their mothers and fathers. I find it surprising that we as a state and nation just lock up people and then make money off them. I really do not comprehend this mans mind, does he really believe inmates and their families are not human beings? The hatred that comes out of this man should not be tolerated by our government. Why does anyone listen to his constant rantings and ravings. this whole situation was brought about by the governments own non action to the many lawsuits filled and their own willful contempt of the law by not adhering to the orders by the Judge. The state is in contempt itself. Who is going to prison for being in contempt of court? Thank you for allowing my input....
On August 7, Mr. Reynolds stated, "...Also noteworthy is the fact that
California has only 5% of its total inmate population, including three-strikers,
serving more than 20 year terms...". How does he account for 29,000 lifers
which represent s 16.7% and does not include mandatory fixed term sentences
of 20 or more years. So, do we in reality have 21% serving the Draconian
sentences? Of course he may mean a 1970s 7 or 15 to life conviction is
not "more than 20 years", but the fact is they are still in prison decades
later. But if no one gets out just what is the difference?
Chickens Coming Home to Roost? For 30 years California politicians have bragged about their "tough on crime" position, passing 1,000 bills. As a result new crimes and sentences are much longer; in fact 5 to 6 times the length elsewhere for the same infraction. The Board of Prison Hearings has effectively stopped functioning and x years to life prisoners rarely get out. You don't need a math major to figure the population is going to soar. At the same time the voters said, and said repeatedly, "no more prisons". Ergo, AB 900 to go around the people. The result is the deterioration of rehab, the using gyms, day rooms, and classrooms to violate the state law by stuffing 3 level bunk beds in them. Facilities were not built to cope with demand for toilets, fresh air, or health standards (if they exist). Rampant disease, poor hygiene combined with sub standard exercise and
food results in premature aging and death of inmates and threaten the state's
population. Now AB 900 wants to throw another $8 Billion to "solve" a problem
they knew they were creating years ago. But it will take years and improve
nothing only adding more warehouses without enough staff to operate with.
It is time to have courageous politicians become "smart on crime" and revamp
the entire system.
Just a Political Ploy Everyone knows that “more time” has not helped California Legislators solve the problems that have plagued its prisons for decades. What these Assembly members need is more courage to heed the advice of experts and to stop proliferating fear-based rhetoric. The $7.8 billion so-called prison reform plan is 99% building (53,000 beds) and 1% reform ($500 million for small pilot rehabilitation programs for a few prisoners at a few prisons). This is our Legislators’ best “comprehensive” plan; yet it lacks sentencing and parole reform, which experts agree are needed. Since three-judge panels were created by the Prison Litigation Reform Act of 1996 designed to restrict the power of a single judge to order early prisoner releases, two such panels have in fact, successfully imposed early release orders: one in Youngstown, Ohio, and the other in Washington, D.C. Don’t these Assembly members know that no appeal can stop the panel from proceeding? Don’t they know that before actually ordering early releases, three-judge panels must first hold hearings in which interveners, including legislators, are allowed to file briefings and testify? This frivolous and premature appeal is a waste of taxpayer dollars! Barbara Christie
At issue here and the primary reason for the Prison Cap is the medical neglect caused by the overcrowding. It is very important that you are writing letters to the Los Angeles Times on the week long series. I saved the Prison Cap information for you to access for your short letters to editors here UNION people. Writing to editors and rapidly organizing our numbers is how we back up the Judges and fight these evil Republicans who will go to any length to expand their empire building, build the bureaucracy, no matter how many families it destroys. Raise your pens in battle, this will be in every newspaper in California today. Here's the Prison Cap Info to enhance your writing. Everybody
participate, don't stress about it, just fight back with your pen and by
recruiting more writers and protesters to the UNION
Assembly members file motion in prisons cases
10:00 PM PDT on Monday, August 13, 2007
Assembly Republicans Monday intervened in prisoner class-action lawsuits in an attempt to maintain control over the prison-crowding crisis before a court-appointed panel can impose solutions, such as a limit on the inmate population. Thirty-one Assembly Republicans filed the motion in U.S. District Court asking, in essence, for more time to solve the crowding problem. According to the motion, a prison bill approved in May will help improve conditions in California's 33 prisons, where more than 173,000 inmates live in facilities built for 100,000. The $7.8 billion plan calls for 53,000 new prison and jail cells. Last month, federal judges in two class-action suits involving the impact of crowding on inmate medical and mental health care ordered a three-judge panel to recommend solutions to the crisis. In the process, the judges rejected the state's proposal and suggested that it would make matters worse for the prison system. A spokesman for the correctional officers union criticized Monday's motion. Assemblyman Todd Spitzer, the western Riverside County representative
who spearheaded Monday's effort, said state legislators have to be part
of the solution.
If the court grants the legislators' motion to become part of the case, they will be able to file briefs with the court and provide oral arguments defending the state's plans. Unchecked, the panel could force the early release of inmates, Spitzer said. Similar rulings involving crowded jails have forced the early release of inmates in Riverside and San Bernardino counties. "The three-judge panel is getting set to act under a federal prison
cap statute that has never been tested in any state in the nation to date.
California would be the first," Spitzer said in a written statement. "Any
early release would jeopardize public safety and make a mockery of a system
where sentences are expected to be fully served."
None of the court rulings has said that a population cap is imminent, said Lance Corcoran, spokesman for the union. "AB 900 is an absolute farce," he said. "It's just more of the same, but somehow we are supposed to do the job better." The state is short-staffed on everything from officers to nurses and inmate teachers, he said. Blind expansion will exacerbate the problem without providing the kind of rehabilitation needed to halt the revolving doors of prison, Corcoran said. The Associated Press Contributed to this report.
the master email is list is here so you can copy what you write to all
the media outlets 50 at a time for most email services Let's
see a big outcry over what the Republicans are trying to do.
How We Managed to Get Prison Reforms on the Table - Wed. Hearing
Is Important
June 25, 2007
Back in the day, we were taught the basics of government in high school in our senior year. We understood that the purpose of our learning how to read and write was to be able to protect our liberty and property. Using our education to make a living was secondary to being able to protect our freedom. We were told that every good citizen was to write regular, short letters to the editors on the issues, whenever necessary to demonstrate in the streets, which is how we ended the Viet Nam war, and work to get out the vote even when no major issues were looming. These were basics and no red-blooded American would ever have been caught being uninformed on the issues or inactive in the processes. Even those with less than a high school education were taught that participation in the Democrat process was vital. If we, the people, didn’t do our patriotic duty to write to editors, protest at legislative hearings, get the truth out about injustice, then the slimy politicians would do whatever they wanted to in order to serve law enforcement labor unions. We were told that to shirk our responsibilities would result in us losing our freedom to a police state. Well, somewhere along the line as people were snoozing, struggling to make a living and not bothering to bring people to the polls to vote on election day, this prediction from the 60’s came true. The nightmare that our professors warned us about has become reality. We have only ourselves to blame for it. Just drive by the sports stadiums and you will see tens of thousands of people wasting their time and money on watching a silly game instead of showing up in the legislature. This is not just apathy. It’s pure ignorance of how the system works and what each of us are supposed to being doing as citizens. The politicians loathe noisy watchdogs and they do everything in their power to keep their campaigns quiet. They love the prison industry, even those who pretend to be against it, because it funds their bureaucracy. This is why there is such limited media access and great inhumanity is taking place in California's taxpayer-financed institutions. I had the recent experience of being told by a staffer in the legislature what I could and could not write about in my column and daily newsletter concerning our decade long campaign to release sick and dying inmates. That was a chilling experience with which I will never comply as it was our UNION people, Prison Law Office, ACLU and Friends Committee on Legislation that exposed the abuses and took actions against it. Can you imagine a veteran opinion writer being chastised and directed on what news to release and not to release? I was floored at having my First Amendment Rights once again trampled upon and that might turn out to be a separate column all in itself. Republican politicians in particular are financed and put into office to do law enforcement's bidding but the Democrats all voted on the ridiculous prison expansion bill AB 900, so they all culprits and promoters of locking people in cages for funding. Anyone who is popular with legislators is a lap dog that is achieving nothing in prison reform, although often they buy adversaries in order to shut them up. Some of us are not for sale, thank God. It does quite a few years of following people and issues to be able to see through the propaganda efforts and to have the courage to call them on adverse actions to the people. This is why it is sad to see key journalists getting axed from newspapers all over the state. They have always been our first line of defense and some did a fantastic job that brought prison reform to the brink of forward motion where we are all sitting today. Several of the best of the journalists were kicked out of the Capitol Press Corps for reporting too much truth and would be as welcome as a turd in the punchbowl when "delicate matters" regarding parole and sentencing laws were to be discussed. In California we now have three million potential voters related to a state prisoner. Most are people who are least likely to vote because they have less than a high school education. These citizens don’t really know why their lives have been devastated by their government. It is very easy to finance the bureaucracy by using billions in tax dollars to run the human bondage industry because the majority of those three million voters do not know how to organize well enough to elect their own people to office, file lawsuits and force changes in laws by doing initiative campaigns. They are willing participants in the oppression that they suffer due to a lack of education and apathy. It's tragic but it's correctible. I am often stunned at just how great a loss people are willing to suffer just to avoid the simple tasks of organizing up to and including the torture and death of their loved one. Is this denial perhaps or a lack of compassion or sense of duty toward their family members? I don't know the answer but I do know that this lack of knowledge must be overcome before the most important reforms can take place and the necessary voting machine fired up to be a long time source of protection. Obviously, just reasoning with politicians does not work. They have sold their souls, most of them, to law enforcement's interests. A survey conducted last year showed the voting records of legislators from both parties vote for the will of law enforcement labor unions from 80% to 96% of the time. They do not for the welfare and will of the people who are being terrorized with harsh and ridiculous laws by our public servants that really do nothing to reduce crime But not all three million potential voters attached to a state prisoner are ignorant on the issues or how to overcome the oppression by organizing. Imprisonment has crossed over into the middle class now and journalists, teachers, nurses, doctors, social workers and other educated professionals have lost their sons and daughters to the slave labor industry. I have spent years teaching people how to become activists for change who have lost their homes, lost their health, lost everything fighting cases of injustice for their children and grandchildren. If I died today, the basic organizing that I have taught hundreds of people would be enough for them to be able to rescue themselves at any point that they decide to get serious. In the past we had some great advocates in elected office who were not owned by law enforcement labor unions, prosecutors and DA's and other types of punishers. My favorite one of all time was Senator Tom Hayden who was the one and only official who would have a member of his office staff actually follow up on a prisoner emergency. It was a tragedy when people would not get out the vote to elect him to public office in Los Angeles after his term expired. That lack of support by our lame side was very destructive to us all. Many people died preventable deaths because after Hayden left there was no place to go for help. This is the result of snoozing and not taking care of our business, supporting our good advocates and showing up at the polls. Hayden's books have delivered a similar message that nobody can help apathetic people who want to complain to one another instead of doing public education campaigns. Other elected officials tried to bring about prison reform but our side has always been lame. Legislators brought bills to amend sentencing laws but only about 50 people would show up to the hearings and almost no one was writing the simple letters to the editor that is our responsibility when something important is up for a decision. People on our side of the argument refused to register the poor to vote, load up their cars and bring them to the polls to vote when an amendment to the cruel and ineffective Three Strikes was on the ballot. The evidence of that is in a comparison of the voter turn-out from the election before and the one where such a life and death issue was on the ballot. There was little difference in voter turn out. What a shame! After about a decade of a small percentage of us living in abject poverty, working our guts out, scraping pennies together to do rallies at the Capitol and at the prisons, filing lawsuits and educating the other families to their role in writing, recruiting and getting out the vote, we have reached an important crossroads in prison reform. Judges Thelton Henderson and Lawrence Karlton, both of whom are more powerful than Governor Schwarzenegger, have made legal rulings and given the Governor and the legislators, (most of whom are bought-and-paid-for by law enforcement labor unions), a deadline to correct the prison crisis. Judge Henderson stated to the Los Angeles Times that prison reform is difficult because “nobody is up in arms about prisoners.” Those in power do not see us with our letters to editors and large protests so they think that people who care about and are willing to fight for prisoners do not exist in large enough numbers to have any teeth. Henderson is in his 70's and has been telling us all that he wants to retire but he has a difficult time doing that knowing that people are suffering. It is the lifetime dream of every person in power that at some point the families are going to be able to organize and fund their own voting machine. Just making noise once in a while does not bring about the changes, it must be a constant building of registered voters all writing, protesting, bringing people to the polls and lawsuit rulings that brings the changes in the laws. Going to a protest once in awhile is just a part of achieving the major goal. The oppressed outnumber everyone since the three million potential voters do not include those on parole, those in jails, federal prisons or related to juveniles. It makes perfect sense that out of millions of those affected by harsh laws and abuses in prisons that there would be 6500 intelligent ones who could get together and elect the right people to office and force changes in the laws by doing initiative campaigns. Then why doesn’t it get done? Is it ignorance of how the system works? Is the stumbling block to success the problem of apathy? Or is it putting silly indulgences such as games, movies, trips, smoking and drinking habits ahead of the importance of organizing and funding a rescue for themselves? Are poor and oppressed people cleaning houses instead of educating the other prisoners out in the prison and jail line ups? Is there some assumption on everyone’s part that advocates such as myself and other key UNION members are doing their fighting and talking for them and that they need do nothing in support? Are people willing to sacrifice time and a few dollars to show that a voting lobby does exist when called to action or would they rather be ignored because they're too dysfunctional to get out a crowd? Whatever the misunderstanding, low voter knowledge and ignorance of how the system works is what is holding back reform. The hearing in Sacramento on June 27, this Wednesday, needs a large turn out so that both Judges Henderson and Karlton can see that we are capable or organizing well enough to do initiative campaigns and bring crowds to important hearings. We need to prove that we are intelligent enough to file more lawsuits, which is what brings about all reform and that we have generally stopped viewing ourselves as helpless victims. the UNION families have filed 28 lawsuits with more on the way, the more we file, the faster the reforms will take place. We have collectively sued more than 300 state employees for their role in wrongful death, permanent disabilities, denial of first amendment rights and extreme abuses. Everything that is important – sentencing, parole, release of sick and dying prisoners, medical neglect, abuse of the mentally ill, harsh laws, injustice in the courts are all related to our reform movement is now in the firm grasp of these two judges. Their insistence of the State's compliance to their orders and a prison cap would stop the insane effort to expand a failed industry. If the system is expanded, we will never see sentencing and parole reforms. The CCPOA is for once telling the truth when they advise everyone that they cannot staff the prisons now. There is only one doctor reportedly working at Blythe for 5,000 men. And the Governor and Legislators want to rob our education dollars by pouring money into a useless black hole when they can't staff the present blood houses as it is, how illogical can they get? It starts at 10:30 am, the Amtrak comes just across the street from the Federal Building at 501 “I” Street in Sacramento, or you can drive and take the J Street exit off the 5 freeway, it’s easy to find. The hearing is in the Federal Courthouse on the 16th Floor, Courtroom 1, Judges Lawrence Karlton and Henderson's Prison Cap hearing. This legislative session can turn out to be the best we’ve ever had in the entire decade that I’ve been working to bring these changes in laws and policy about as long as the Judges have them all by the short ones. I would like you to see some of the tragedies of the family members of UNION people who died along the way and our battle to get the movement to this point while others didn’t help, didn’t show up, didn’t support our many campaigns or lawsuits with a nickel and even bashed us every step of the way. http://www.1union1.com/about_union.htm Everything possible was done to try and stop our organizing and public education because, after all, that would put prison guards and their legislators in the soup line, instead of in power over us. There is nothing more powerful than a large, noisy, writing, suing, citizen’s group and we have survived and are possibly on the verge of major wins for every prisoner and their family members in California We sacrificed our income, our lives and fought everyone’s battles but the time has come for people on the sidelines to stop being ignorant of the issues and learn to show up three or four times a year when called to prove that we’re not too stupid as a movement to organize and elect our own people to office. If the judges retire at this juncture, we will have no hope of bringing about the reforms so vital to getting justice in everyone’s cases and taking back our lives, stolen so that bureaucrats could have budgets from the human bondage industry. We want to be there to show them that we support a prison cap, oppose prison expansion and are not too lame to organize and get out the vote. You can get ride information here at this link, if you can give a ride or need a ride, please email me at rightor1@yahoo.com http://www.1union1.com/alerts.html The Motel 6 off the Richard Blvd. exit on Jibboom Street charges $49.99 for two beds, two people for those who want to arrive a day early. Silence has been the wrong action to take because supporting those fighting these battles is something every red-blooded American needs to be doing if we are ever to put an end to what old time educators warned us about – ending up with a police state. We all have legal burdens but there will be no justice in anyone’s cases until you help to reform the state laws and policies and only the power of numbers moving on one campaign at a time can accomplish that goal. It can’t be just about your own case because the brick walls are in place on purpose and it takes a citizen’s group to tear them down. What are you waiting for, a miracle rescue that requires no work and no moneys spent? That is impossible for anyone to hand to you. The prison guards have this organizing routine all figured out. That is why they hold the jailer’s keys and others are the slaves to the bureaucrats. It’s all very basic, simple, high school government knowledge but if people were doing these simple steps of writing, recruiting, showing up in mass when called and getting out the vote for people who would really represent us, we would have NONE of the current problems. Everybody thinks someone else is doing it and then nobody does it. Too bad when the oppressed outnumber all the others and could clean this mess up in a heartbeat if enough people would help. Be there with a carload or hush up complaining and risk setbacks to all our years of hard work. Everybody has a role in this battle. The hearing flyer is here http://www.1union1.com/June27_hearing_flyer.html Rev. B. Cayenne Bird UNION
http://www.1union1.com/Join_the_UNION.html
California Progress Report June 28, 2007. 9 comments. Topic: Prison Reform Romero Predicts Three Federal Judge Panel Will Be Appointed--One That May Cap California's Prison Population By Frank D. Russo Eight blocks from the state Capitol, two Federal Court Judges held an unusual hearing for two and a half hours on the appointment of a three judge panel which would determine whether California's prison system needs to have a cap on its inmate population to alleviate overcrowding because of its deleterious impact on the health care received by inmates that they have both ruled to not meet constitutional standards. State Senator Gloria Romero sat in the front row of the courtroom. After hearing the judges express their skepticism about whether the state was making real progress and the argument by the state's attorney that they should allow more time for compliance with multiple orders that date back to the 1990's, Romero predicted that the judges would convene a three judge panel--one that could order a change in California's sentencing laws and even early release of some prisoners as a remedy. This attorney and the other reporters in the courtroom all came to the same conclusion. California is running out of time and the wheels seem set in motion for some more Federal Court orders because of the dysfunctional way our elected state leaders--Governor and legislators--have failed to take action. Whichever way the judges rule, there will be an appeal, but time is running out. The judges clearly are reluctant players in their role and would prefer that the state government be the body to take action. U.S. Judge Lawrence Karlton of Sacramento on more than one occasion told attorneys for the state, "I just can understand what you're saying," to the laughter of many of the family members of prisoners who packed the largest courtroom in the federal courthouse. He also said: "I actually had the delusion that we would someday get out of this system and it's clear that in the last year and a half, two years, with all of the work, with all of the effort, there's been a backsliding that's perceptible." To arguments that the receiver, Robert Sillen, who he appointed to take over the prison medical system should be given more time, and a parallel argument that in light of AB 900, the prison construction and "reform" law recently enacted, more time is needed, an exasperated Federal Judge Thelton Henderson, who traveled to Sacramento from his courtroom in San Francisco, noted that "people are dying." Later on, he asked directly of Lisa Tillman, the Deputy Attorney General for California: "Are you saying that the state hasn't been given a chance?" He rejected the challenge to testimony that had been given about one prison death occurring every 6 to 7 days and that the state was not responsible, saying "These people are dying and they shouldn't be dying." Henderson noted that when he appointed Sillen two years ago, he was told that it would take 3 to 5 years to clean up the prison health mess. However, Henderson recalled that shortly thereafter Sillen responded in open court "Good golly, or words to that effect, 'This is going to take 5 to 10 years.'" When the Governor's attorney argued that Governor Schwarzenegger was committed to prison reform and that he doesn't make the sentencing laws, it was clear that the judges don't want to get into the question of who's to blame, they just want action. Karlton said: "It's not a question of blame. It's not that you are bad people--there may be questions of competence, but that's another question." Karlton's case involves the state's inadequate mental health treatment in prisons that has led a number of suicides. He was not mollified by the state's argument that now only one-third of the prisoners who need mental health treatment are not getting it. Henderson read pleadings by the state that said that he had been "aggressively" trying to rectify the problem and mocked the state's argument that "6 months ago we really kicked in…70 orders over this time..But now it's a new day." He said that even taking the view that the Governor is committed to prison reform, "Isn't the problem that while he is, we have Senators saying 'I will never agreed to anyone getting out one day earlier?" Noting the press releases from the Governor's office he had his clerk pull and the lack of mention of sentencing reform in recent ones, he asked the question about the Governor, "Is he a victim to the system?" referring to problems the Governor is having with fellow Republican lawmakers. Karlton said that the legislature and the Governor are free to adopt a plan tomorrow. If they enacted one that worked, he said he "wouldn't even consider what is being asked." As to mental health treatment, he continued, "But there's no evidence at all that that's going to happen. …A third of the population is getting no adequate care. We don't have staff, we don't have beds, we can't reach them." Near the end, Henderson said: "This hearing has reaffirmed that there
is a problem and that the current system won't solve the problem."
Comments
Row upon row of families of prisoners from the UNION, United for No Injustice, Oppression or Neglect were in the audience, more than 100 inside the courtroom and about 100 more overflowing into the foyer. So many in fact that they played musical chairs so that those who traveled from as far away as San Diego could spent at least some time witnessing the hearing. The pink flowers symbolized hope and trust, that people in power are going to recognize and act upon their immeasurable suffering. They wanted to deliver a message that the UNION has been organizing the necessary voting block to change the laws for many years now that will be active in filing lawsuits for abuses and wrongful deaths of their loved ones and bringing the poor by the busloads to vote out people who oppose reform bills in the future. There is zero support for out of state prisoner transfers in the UNION or AB 900 both of which are non-solutions to the problem. Imagine that, the families can organize and show up. One other thing worth mentioning, some who are very desperate for help from people who are considered to be in charge of the reform, waited until after the hearing so that they could speak to people like Attorney Michael Bien. He had plenty of time to speak with the radio broadcasters but brushed the desperate family members who approached them off with total disinterest. He might be on the right side but none of these people including Sillen are responding to emergencies. Just tell them you're a reporter though and they have all kinds of time for you. Great article Mr. Russo. Michael Westmoreland June 28, 2007 at 01:56 PM
At least for once the prison guards were honest about not being able to staff the facilities that they have, let alone expanding to need many more. The families of the UNION overflowing the courtroom was a clear message that they do know how to organize and get out the vote. The three million people attached to a prisoner are being taught how to bring people to the polls to vote against dumb-on-crime politicians who think that everything will change in a sick person's life if they just lock them in cages and torment them. The families are on the move and everyone is being taught to register the poor to vote. It is the poor who cannot fight back for themselves in a system that is corrupt arrest through parole. Judges Henderson and Karlton are absolutely legends in their own time, how can the families that have been destroyed by all this tough on crime nonsense every repay them? Organizing to be able to prevent such a police state and so much injustice in the first place is ultimately the only way and the judges are well aware of that fact. But we are all praying that they don't retire just yet as we are still building our mobilization, filing more lawsuits, teaching people to notify the media of all deaths, riots, disease outbreaks Leah June 28, 2007 at 11:06 PM
Buchanan June 29, 2007 at 07:29 AM
Morris1 June 29, 2007 at 08:42 AM
Nora Weber June 29, 2007 at 08:52 AM
Thank God for two very brave Judges such as Henderson and Karlton. It is time someone took a stand against such a corrupt prison system. The operators of the prison should be in prison themselves for what they are doing to promote the torture and medical neglect of a human being. U.N.I.O.N. members were in their Court room in force and Nora Weber passed out packages of her sick and dying son Mark Grangetto. Keep up the good fight UNION folks we are making head way. Fiona Q. June 29, 2007 at 09:10 AM
cadustin June 29, 2007 at 10:40 AM
Barbara Christie June 29, 2007 at 01:15 PM
Judges express frustration with pace of prison reform
SACRAMENTO - Two federal court judges expressed frustration with state officials Wednesday over the slow pace of prison reform and suggested that a judicial panel with authority to impose a population cap - which would almost certainly spur the early release of some prisoners - may be the surest way to alleviate chronic overcrowding. U.S. District Court judges Thelton Henderson and Lawrence Karlton, sitting side by side at a special hearing to decide whether to impose a three-judge panel, at various times sounded skeptical that the state was doing enough to reduce prison overcrowding, which has led to shoddy medical care and lack of mental health care for tens of thousands of inmates. "All of the evidence shows that overcrowding is a severe problem," said Karlton, the Sacramento-based judge who is overseeing a class-action lawsuit filed by inmates who have little or no access to mental health care. He said the problem was in need of a "radical" solution. But attorneys for the state tried to downplay a connection between overcrowding and the quality of health care. And they pleaded with the judges to consider several steps taken within the past six months that they said will improve conditions: A recently adopted prison-reform law, AB 900, that will result in tens of thousands of new beds; a proposal to send 8,000 inmates to jails outside California; and the long-term improvement plan filed by the court-appointed receiver who runs the prison medical system. "At some point, the individuals who are brought in - the special master, the receiver - must be permitted to do their work," said Lisa Tillman, representing the state attorney general. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, she said, was taking "every action possible" to improve the situation. Medical care in California's prisons, which has been declared unconstitutional, is overseen by a receiver, Bob Sillen, who was appointed last year by Henderson. Mental health care is overseen by a special master, J. Michael Keating. Both were appointed in the midst of class-action litigation by inmates who are among more than 171,000 stuffed into prisons across California, where conditions are so crowded that little, if any, rehabilitation takes place; about seven of every 10 inmates returns to prison. The judges took the arguments under submission and will rule at a later date. Henderson and Karlton have previously ordered the state to improve conditions, but Wednesday's hearing provided perhaps the strongest indication that they appear to be leaning toward forming the panel. Although they never flat out said a prison population cap was the ultimate solution, they framed many of their questions and comments on the formation of the panel. They also mentioned other components to reducing prison population that Schwarzenegger or the state Legislature have been unable to agree on, such as forming a sentencing commission. The judges often interrupted attorneys and showed their frustration with the lack of improvements, sometimes leaning forward from their chairs to sit straight up and remind the state's lawyers that the two lawsuits have been litigated for years. Thelton at one point wondered if the state would abide by a population cap, saying he wouldn't be surprised that such an order "will not be worth much more than the paper it's written on." In his opening arguments in favor of the three-judge panel, Don Spector of the Prison Law Office, the Marin County non-profit that represents inmates, chastised the state government for "not taking any meaningful steps" to improve conditions. "A reasonable time has already passed." A private attorney contracted by the state, Paul Mello, countered that the medical receiver has been making "unbelievable" progress by hiring more than 1,000 employees, building a new hospital at San Quentin and attracting better applicants. "We need to give it a chance," he said.
Contact Edwin Garcia at egarcia@mercurynews.com
or (916) 441-4651.
Hearing looks at limit on inmates
Two federal judges indicated Wednesday that they are leaning toward creating a judicial panel charged with setting a population cap for California's prison system. In their comments and questions from the bench, U.S. District Court Judges Thelton Henderson and Lawrence Karlton strongly suggested during a joint hearing in Sacramento federal court that inmate overcrowding is contributing mightily to constitutional violations of inadequate medical and mental health care in the state's prisons. They also said the constitutional violations are getting worse. Karlton and Henderson took under submission the matter of setting up a three-judge panel. They gave no indication when they would issue a ruling. There was little mistaking, however, which way the judges were headed in their upcoming decision. At one point in the two-hour and 15-minute hearing, Karlton interrupted Paul Mello, a private attorney retained by the state, to tell him, "I just can't understand what you're saying." The judge, who is presiding in Sacramento in the inmate class-action mental health case settled in 1995, told the lawyer, "People are dying." The question, Karlton said, is whether "in the absence of a three-judge panel, is there any hope" that the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation could bring itself into constitutional compliance in the way it's running the prison system. After 12 years and 70 orders he has imposed on the state, Karlton said, the evidence is "that the answer is no." "What's happened," the judge added, "is that overcrowding has made it impossible." In Henderson's case in San Francisco, the state admitted in 2002 that it was violating inmates' constitutional rights by providing them with inadequate medical care, to the point where one inmate was dying due to medical neglect every week. Henderson has since appointed Robert Sillen as the federal receiver to run the prison medical system. Mello argued Wednesday that Sillen is making headway. Henderson, however, characterized the receiver's progress as adding up to "little successes." The judge noted that when Sillen first took over, the receiver said it would take him three to five years to fashion a constitutional fix. Sillen is now saying it will take him five to 10 years. "So we're further behind now," Henderson said. Inmate rights lawyers filed motions last November that argued for creating a three-judge panel, saying that overcrowding impedes delivery of constitutionally required medical and mental health care. If the lawyers prevail, the panel would hold hearings on a prisoner release order. Karlton said that the courts imposing a population cap would amount to a "very radical" step and possibly create a "public safety danger." Plaintiffs' lawyer Michael Bien countered that that "it would be radical not to act" in face of the prison system's overcrowding crisis. "This is not a radical step," Bien said. "It's something the law provides for." The plaintiffs' attorneys said after the hearing Wednesday they thought they had made their case and that the judges are leaning in their direction. "They were raising some thoughtful questions," said Prison Law Office directing attorney Don Specter, the lawyer on the medical care case. "I think they were more aggressive with the other side than they were with us. I take that as a hopeful sign." Bien, co-counsel with Specter on the mental health case, said it appeared to him that the judges were "quite concerned." "My reading is they're unwilling to allow this crisis to continue unfettered and that we have convinced them that overcrowding is undercutting any possible effort to remedy the medical and mental health violations," Bien said. Attorneys for the state argued during the hearing that the recently enacted prison construction plan, Assembly Bill 900, will ease overcrowding and help the state meet its obligations to prisoners on medical and mental health matters. They said that the plaintiffs' lawyers didn't mention overcrowding as problems in their cases until last November's filing of the motion for the three-judge panel. The state's legal team suggested that prisoner release orders of the magnitude raised in plaintiffs' court papers would be unreasonable. "Are plaintiffs really suggesting we release 37,000 inmates?" Mello said, referring to a filing that cited a 2004 Corrections Independent Review Panel figure of 137,764 as the "maximum safe and reasonable" population for California's prisons. The current inmate population is approximately 173,000. The state's lawyers declined to comment after the hearing. Bill Maile, a spokesman for Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, said the administration is "confident in the case we presented to the court against imposing a population cap." Maile said a prisoner release order would endanger public safety and that it "will not solve the problems identified by the plaintiffs in these cases." Wednesday's hearing was attended by federal receiver Sillen and Michael Keating, the special master monitoring the mental health case. Both said in recent court filings that overcrowding is making their jobs more difficult. Neither took a position in their filings on the issue of creating the three-judge panel. State Sen. Gloria Romero, D-Los Angeles, also attended the hearing. She said afterward it appeared to her that the judges were on the verge of approving the motion. "It seems that the political system is paralyzed and it's going to take
an independent branch of government to step in and get that system moving,"
Romero said.
No rap on cap
California should embrace, not fear, the possible appointment of a judicial panel with authority to impose a prison population cap. While it is true that a three-judge panel would take some key decision-making away from the state, if all agencies are working toward the same end - to ease the horribly dangerous overcrowding - then it shouldn't be a problem. State officials, of course, are railing against the specter of federal oversight. We can't blame them. It is always better to be in control of one's own destiny. But, frankly, the state has had years and years to get the prison system under control, and it has failed. That is why U.S. District Court Judge Thelton Henderson appointed a federal receiver to take over the Corrections Department's inept medical system a couple of years ago. That's why U.S. District Court Judge Lawrence Karlton appointed a special master more than a decade ago to oversee the system's mental health component. Although progress is being made on those fronts, the overcrowding continues to be a serious threat to all progress. California is tough on crime all right; we have the overcrowded facilities to prove it. Some 171,000 inmates have been stuffed into our prisons. A governor-appointed review panel has said that the maximum safe and reasonable capacity is 137,764. As we have stated before, overcrowding is a threat not only for inmates, but for the correctional officers and staffers who oversee the facilities. And with two such facilities in Vacaville, we are concerned about how this problem is resolved. At a hearing this week, Judges Henderson and Karlton mulled the idea of appointing a three-judge panel. At least one of them would sit on that panel. Chief Judge Mary Schroeder of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals would decide the other two appointments. The pair pondered whether such a panel would issue recommendations or edicts. Whether it would oversee only the overcrowding issue, or also delve into sentencing reform and the probation system. Ultimately, they decided, such questions would have to be answered by the three-judge panel, should they appoint one. That, however, has not yet been determined The state, of course, argued that the judges should just sit back and let California solve its own problems. Attorneys and lawmakers pointed out that the passage of Assembly Bill 900, which calls for building facilities and adding beds around the state, is a step forward. They point to the governor's plan to export inmates as progress. They don't mention, however, that it will take three to five years to build new facilities and at least a couple of years to add beds to existing ones. They also fail to mention that the governor's plan to export inmates has been challenged in court and could face future challenges. During the hearing, Lisa Tillman, representing state Attorney General Jerry Brown, argued that the state - and even court-appointed receivers - should be allowed to work without the interference of the judges. We might have bought that argument a few years ago, but our patience has grown thin. As Judge Karlton told Ms. Tillman: "The governor and the Legislature are free tomorrow to adopt a plan to make both of us go away. There is no evidence at all that is going to happen." And so we hope the judges will opt for appointing a judicial panel if for no other reason than to continue to put pressure on the state to react with a sense of urgency. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Judges hint that court panel should cap prison population
By Edwin Garcia
Article Launched:06/28/2007 03:46:35 AM PDT SACRAMENTO -- Two federal court judges expressed frustration with state
officials Wednesday about the slow pace of prison reform and suggested
that a judicial panel with authority to impose a population cap -- which
almost certainly would spur the early release of some prisoners -- may
be the surest way to alleviate chronic overcrowding.
"All of the evidence shows that overcrowding is a severe problem," said Karlton, a Sacramento-based judge who is overseeing a class-action lawsuit filed by inmates who have little or no access to mental-health care. He said the problem was in need of a "radical" solution. But attorneys for the state tried to downplay a connection between overcrowding and the quality of health care. And they pleaded with the judges to consider several significant steps taken within the past six months that they said will significantly improve conditions: a recently adopted prison-reform law, AB900, that will result in tens of thousands of new beds; a proposal to send 8,000 inmates to jails outside California; and the long-term improvement plan filed by the court-appointed receiver who runs the prison medical system. "At some point, the individuals who are brought in -- the special master, the receiver -- must be permitted to do their work," said Lisa Tillman, representing the state attorney general. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, she said, was taking "every action possible" to improve the situation. Medical care in California's prisons, which has been declared unconstitutional, is overseen by a receiver, Bob Sillen, who was appointed last year by Henderson. Mental-health care is overseen by a special master, Michael Keating. Both were appointed in the midst of class-action litigation by inmates who are among more than 171,000 stuffed into prisons across California, where conditions are so crowded that little, if any, rehabilitation takes place; about seven of every 10 inmates returns to prison. The judges took the arguments under submission and will rule later. Henderson and Karlton previously have ordered the state to improve conditions, but Wednesday's hearing provided perhaps the strongest indication that they appear to be leaning toward forming a panel. Although they never flat out said a prison population cap was the ultimate solution, they framed many of their questions and comments on the formation of the panel. They also mentioned other components to reducing prison population that Schwarzenegger or the state Legislature have been unable to agree on, such as forming a sentencing commission and taking a closer look at parole guidelines. The judges often interrupted attorneys and showed their frustration with the lack of improvements, sometimes leaning forward in their chairs to remind the state's lawyers that the two lawsuits have been litigated for years. Thelton at one point asked whether the state would abide by a population cap, saying he wouldn't be surprised that such an order "will not be worth much more than the paper it's written on." In his opening arguments in favor of the three-judge panel, Don Spector of the Prison Law Office, a Marin County nonprofit group that represents inmates, chastised the state for "not taking any meaningful steps" to improve conditions. "A reasonable time has already passed," he later added. "The system is out of control," added co-counsel Michael Bien. A private attorney contracted by the state, Paul Mello, countered that conditions are improving because the medical receiver has been making "unbelievable" progress by hiring more than 1,000 employees. "I think we need to give it a chance," he said. Reach Edwin Garcia of the San Jose Mercury News at 916-441-4651 or egarcia@mercurynews.com .
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One of the most
frustrating aspects of having been a prison reformer for the past decade
is low voter knowledge of the issues which I have always referred to as
ignorance. I do not mean general ignorance, although there is plenty of
that out there too, I am referring to citizen ignorance of how the system
works. The media has been writing about this topic lately which I believe
deserves to be addressed in very simple language since government propaganda
and low voter knowledge are hurting us all. Get rid of the propaganda and
we've solved the problems once everyone understands why they exist and
what can be done about them.