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| Judge Threatens New Oversight of Calif. Prisons |
| By Reuters |
| Published: 07/23/2004 |
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A federal judge has threatened to strip control of California's troubled prison system from state officials, saying a contract deal negotiated by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger had given too much power to the union representing prison officers. With 163,000 inmates, California has the biggest prison system of any U.S. state and it has come under fire for spiraling costs, a lack of accountability and inmate abuse scandals. The deal between the union and the governor also has been sharply criticized by some California lawmakers, who say Schwarzenegger failed to notch sufficient savings in the agreement amid broader state budget negotiations. The officers won a two-year period virtually free of layoffs in exchange for delaying raises worth $108 million. Schwarzenegger had originally aimed for $300 million in concessions as part of his $1.3 billion budget plan. U.S. District Court Judge Thelton Henderson in a letter to Schwarzenegger's legal affairs secretary said the contract deal allowed the union too much influence in the management of California's troubled Department of Corrections. Henderson said the "bad investigations, a code of silence and the failure to discipline correctional officers" had been "condoned for many years by the highest level of California officials." Henderson wrote he would consider appointing a receiver to oversee bringing the state's prison system into compliance with court orders. The judge also requested a personal meeting with Schwarzenegger to discuss the issue. Schwarzenegger's Legal Affairs Secretary Peter Siggins said he was "shocked and disappointed" by the letter, noting that he had met with the judge on July 7. Henderson ruled in 1995 that conditions at Pelican Bay State Prison violated the civil rights of inmates and has been monitoring prison reform efforts since. A special probe of California's prison system recently found the California Correctional Peace Officers Association had interfered with disciplinary investigations of officers. Its ranks swelled by California's prison building boom and law-and-order politics over the past two decades, the union has become a political powerhouse in the state. |
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