Amador County - California’s prison reduction plan began Monday, with the long-term goal of reducing prison populations by as many as 6,500 inmates over the course of the year. The changes were approved by the Legislature and signed into law by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger last year. The controversial plan is intended to help reduce severe overcrowding by allowing some low-risk offenders to leave prison early by offering more credit against their sentences through education and rehabilitation programs. Inmates earn credits by working on firefighting crews, completing drug-and-alcohol programs, or getting high school diplomas and trade school certificates. Low-risk offenders will not have regular supervision by parole agents and will no longer be returned to prison for technical violations like substance abuse or address changes. Matthew Cate, Secretary of the State’s Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, said the new rules will eventually lower recidivism and “save, over the course of a full year, a half a billion dollars for California taxpayers.” He said this will eventually cut the traditional workload for a parole agent down from 70 to 48 parolees per year. Instead of the traditional approach, he said the state will address overcrowding by “significantly increasing public safety by focusing our resources on high-risk offenders, serious offenders, violent offenders and sex offenders.” Critics say the plan will actually spark an increase in crime throughout the state. Some also say the one condition imposed on released inmates – that they be searched without a warrant - is fruitless because the offenders’ identities are not reported to law enforcement. Also on Monday, 10th District Assemblymember Alyson Huber and Assemblymember Ted Lieu joined Crime Victims United and law enforcement officials to discuss the impacts of the prison legislation. The panel included Amador County Sheriff Martin Ryan, Harriet Salerno of Crime Victims United, Los Angeles County Legislative Advocate Wayne Bilowit and Floyd Hayhurst, Vice President of the Association of Los Angeles Deputy Sheriffs. We’ll have the results of this panel in tomorrow’s broadcast. Story by Alex Lane This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. -
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Amador County - California’s prison reduction plan began Monday, with the long-term goal of reducing prison populations by as many as 6,500 inmates over the course of the year. The changes were approved by the Legislature and signed into law by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger last year. The controversial plan is intended to help reduce severe overcrowding by allowing some low-risk offenders to leave prison early by offering more credit against their sentences through education and rehabilitation programs. Inmates earn credits by working on firefighting crews, completing drug-and-alcohol programs, or getting high school diplomas and trade school certificates. Low-risk offenders will not have regular supervision by parole agents and will no longer be returned to prison for technical violations like substance abuse or address changes. Matthew Cate, Secretary of the State’s Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, said the new rules will eventually lower recidivism and “save, over the course of a full year, a half a billion dollars for California taxpayers.” He said this will eventually cut the traditional workload for a parole agent down from 70 to 48 parolees per year. Instead of the traditional approach, he said the state will address overcrowding by “significantly increasing public safety by focusing our resources on high-risk offenders, serious offenders, violent offenders and sex offenders.” Critics say the plan will actually spark an increase in crime throughout the state. Some also say the one condition imposed on released inmates – that they be searched without a warrant - is fruitless because the offenders’ identities are not reported to law enforcement. Also on Monday, 10th District Assemblymember Alyson Huber and Assemblymember Ted Lieu joined Crime Victims United and law enforcement officials to discuss the impacts of the prison legislation. The panel included Amador County Sheriff Martin Ryan, Harriet Salerno of Crime Victims United, Los Angeles County Legislative Advocate Wayne Bilowit and Floyd Hayhurst, Vice President of the Association of Los Angeles Deputy Sheriffs. We’ll have the results of this panel in tomorrow’s broadcast. Story by Alex Lane This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
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