California Issues - California Prison Reform

Releasing ‘Non-Serious’ Offenders Jeopardizes Safety of All Californians

   California’s prison system is dangerously overcrowded and on the verge of collapse.

   For too long, the Legislature has ignored California’s growing prison crisis, especially the lack of space in state prisons to house the inmates who belong there. Now California faces the very real prospect of having a federal judge order the early release of thousands of potentially dangerous prisoners unless lawmakers get serious about expanding capacity.

   Democrats in the Assembly and Senate have pushed for the release of so called “non-violent” offenders and the creation of a sentencing review commission as their solutions for our prison crisis. They argue that prisons are overcrowded because too many inmates are serving time for low level offences or as a result of mandatory sentencing laws. They contend these felons pose no danger to society and should be released early to free up prison space.

   However, a closer look at California’s prison population, and the experiences other states have had with the early release of prisoners to reduce overcrowding suggests that thousands of serious and repeat criminals could be out on the streets soon if California’s tough-on-crime, public safety laws are undermined.

   Texas experienced prison overcrowding problems during the 1960s and 1970s very similar to what California faces today. A federal judge stepped in and imposed his own proposals to reduce prison overcrowding, including housing each prisoner in larger, single cells, providing state-of-the-art prison health care and giving inmates cable TV and better leisure activities. As a result, prison spending skyrocketed from just $91 million in 1984 to $1.84 billion in 1994.

   The federal judge also ordered the early release of thousands of criminals, and the results were deadly. One prisoner released early was Kenneth McDuff, who was originally sentenced to death for murdering three teenagers, but whose sentence was commuted to a life sentence when the Supreme Court overturned the death penalty. Upon being released by the federal judge, McDuff immediately returned to his murdering ways, killing a 28 year-old female accountant and a 22 year-old mother of two, raping and murdering a total of 12 women before he was arrested and eventually sentenced to death again.

   The city of Philadelphia also went through prison overcrowding problems during the 1980s and 1990s. A federal judge there imposed a cap on the total prison population, leading to the early release of thousands of dangerous criminals, and putting the safety of all Philadelphia families at risk. During one 18-month period, over 9,700 criminals released early were arrested again on new charges, including 79 murders, 90 rapes and 1,113 assaults.

   California could be facing the same problems if an early release plan is instituted. Our prisons are home to some of the most serious and dangerous criminals in the entire country – with more than 80 percent of all inmates having been convicted of at least one prior felony. Even worse, 54 percent of inmates have three or more previous felonies, while 12 percent have an astonishing 11 or more prior convictions.

   In 2005, state corrections officials found that more than 85 percent of male inmates in California prison facilities were convicted of a crime against a person, a serious or violent crime or a crime aggravated by a prior felony conviction. Just 14 percent were being held for non-serious offenses, and Democrats believe many of these inmates should be released to free up space.

   But the crime for which they are currently serving time does not tell the full story about the felon’s criminal past, and may actually understate their long history of serious or violent crimes.

   Nowhere is this more evident than sex offenders. While there are an estimated 14,000 inmates currently serving time for sex offenses, more than 21,000 inmates would be required to register as sex offenders if they were released. This means that 7,000 sex offenders currently incarcerated for lesser offenses could potentially be eligible for early release.

   Make no mistake – when we talk about “non-violent offenders”, we are not talking about those convicted of traffic violations, but rather serious and repeat criminals convicted of serious crimes like burglary and identity theft.

   Lawmakers must act responsibly to prevent the frightening experiences other states have had with early release from occurring in California. We must expand prison capacity so we always have enough space to keep dangerous felons locked away. We must also improve the effectiveness of the rehabilitation programs inside our prisons and direct released inmates to community programs and faith based organizations that have been proven to reduce recidivism. Assembly Republicans will continue to fight hard to ensure families don’t have to live in fear in their own homes.