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http://www.foxnews.com/wires/2007Dec21/0,4670,CaliforniaPrisons,00.html
Mass Inmate Release Possible in Calif.
Friday, December 21, 2007
SACRAMENTO, Calif. - Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is considering the early
release of more than 20,000 low-risk prison inmates from the nation's
largest prison system as a way to save money amid a worsening budget crisis,
a newspaper reported Thursday.
Only nonviolent offenders would be eligible, and prisoners considered for
the program would have less than 20 months left on their terms, The
Sacramento Bee reported on its Web site. Sex offenders would not be
included.
The governor's office told The Associated Press that Schwarzenegger had not
decided to release inmates early and that it was one of many scenarios being
considered as the state seeks to cope with a budget deficit estimated at $10
billion to $14 billion over the next two fiscal years.
The governor has not decided what budget proposals he will deliver to the
Legislature next month, said Schwarzenegger spokesman Adam Mendelsohn.
Schwarzenegger had ordered state agencies to make 10 percent cuts "but has
not made final decisions on what those 10 percent cuts will be," he said.
The state is also under federal court pressure to relieve severe
overcrowding, which has been blamed for serious problems in the prison
system's health care delivery and mental health services.
The proposal reported by the Bee would cut the prison population by 22,159
inmates and save the state $256 million in the fiscal year that begins July
1. Savings could reach $780 million through 2010.
The proposal also calls for eliminating more than 4,000 prison jobs, most of
which would involve guards.
An early release of inmates would be a change of heart for Schwarzenegger, a
Republican who has steadfastly opposed such a step.
In a radio address in July, he pledged that he would not release any
prisoners early, despite severe overcrowding and the threat that federal
judges would put limit the inmate population.
As an interim step to relieve prison crowding, Schwarzenegger's
administration has contracted with private prisons in other states to take
thousands of California prisoners.
David Runnels, undersecretary for operations for the California Department
of Corrections and Rehabilitation, declined to comment on the budget
proposal. Ryan Sherman, a spokesman for the state prison guards union, told
the AP that the union had not seen the proposal and would not comment on the
report.
Mass Inmate Release Possible in Calif.
Friday, December 21, 2007
SACRAMENTO, Calif. - Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is considering the early
release of more than 20,000 low-risk prison inmates from the nation's
largest prison system as a way to save money amid a worsening budget crisis,
a newspaper reported Thursday.
Only nonviolent offenders would be eligible, and prisoners considered for
the program would have less than 20 months left on their terms, The
Sacramento Bee reported on its Web site. Sex offenders would not be
included.
The governor's office told The Associated Press that Schwarzenegger had not
decided to release inmates early and that it was one of many scenarios being
considered as the state seeks to cope with a budget deficit estimated at $10
billion to $14 billion over the next two fiscal years.
The governor has not decided what budget proposals he will deliver to the
Legislature next month, said Schwarzenegger spokesman Adam Mendelsohn.
Schwarzenegger had ordered state agencies to make 10 percent cuts "but has
not made final decisions on what those 10 percent cuts will be," he said.
The state is also under federal court pressure to relieve severe
overcrowding, which has been blamed for serious problems in the prison
system's health care delivery and mental health services.
The proposal reported by the Bee would cut the prison population by 22,159
inmates and save the state $256 million in the fiscal year that begins July
1. Savings could reach $780 million through 2010.
The proposal also calls for eliminating more than 4,000 prison jobs, most of
which would involve guards.
An early release of inmates would be a change of heart for Schwarzenegger, a
Republican who has steadfastly opposed such a step.
In a radio address in July, he pledged that he would not release any
prisoners early, despite severe overcrowding and the threat that federal
judges would put limit the inmate population.
As an interim step to relieve prison crowding, Schwarzenegger's
administration has contracted with private prisons in other states to take
thousands of California prisoners.
David Runnels, undersecretary for operations for the California Department
of Corrections and Rehabilitation, declined to comment on the budget
proposal. Ryan Sherman, a spokesman for the state prison guards union, told
the AP that the union had not seen the proposal and would not comment on the
report.
