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| State budget crisis brings shift in parole procedures |
| By Sacramento Bee |
| Published: 01/05/2004 |
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Convinced that California can no longer afford its $5.3 billion prison and parole system, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's administration is exploring moves that would all but eliminate parole conditions for nonviolent, nonserious offenders and eventually -- through early release and lighter penalties -- dramatically shrink the prison population. Some of the moves result from recent court settlements. Others are efforts whose planning began under former Gov. Gray Davis and have been speeded up by Schwarzenegger. But taken together, the moves would mark a profound retrenching of the state's correctional boom, fueled in recent years by tough new sentencing laws and the growing political clout of the union representing California prison correctional officers. "Arnold has had us identify the nonviolent, nonthreatening inmates," said as high-ranking corrections official working on the proposals. "We could probably cut the (prison) population by a third, which would be a huge savings for taxpayers and give some of these people a chance to be productive citizens again." Administration sources said the ideas are driven by California's fiscal problems and, if successful, could save the state hundreds of millions of dollars a year. They say the ideas would not jeopardize public safety because most of the targeted offenders are now locked up for nonviolent, drug-related crimes. The changes, most of which need legislative approval, also could go a long way toward improving California's much-criticized parole program. It was blasted in a recent state report as "a billion-dollar failure" with recidivism rates nearly twice the national average. And while aides say he has no intention of easing penalties against serious and violent criminals, Schwarzenegger is reportedly open to a wide range of possible changes that would signal a bold departure from how California's last three governors dealt with the criminal justice system. "All of that's being researched now to look at it very carefully to make sure it doesn't affect public safety," acknowledged Tip Kindel, spokesman for the Youth and Adult Correctional Agency. Kindel said corrections officials have estimated that as many as 25,000 of the state's 161,000 inmates could be released without posing a threat to society, but others say the number could be twice as high. As a moderate Republican less worried than Davis was about being portrayed as soft on crime, Schwarzenegger is far more willing, his aides say, to look at issues such as early release of nonviolent and "nonserious offenders" than Davis would have been. Don Novey, who turned the California Correctional Peace Officers Association into a political power at the state Capitol, said he's heard about many of the proposals under study and is waiting to see how "it all shakes out" in Schwarzenegger's budget proposal for the next fiscal year, which is due by Jan. 10. |
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