Todd Spitzer On State Prisoner Re-Entry
Posted by: Jubal | 03/12/2008 3:17 PM
The new conflict between Orange and the county over Theo Lacy Jail stems in part from the state re-entry policy for prisoners nearing the end of their term. That's unfortunate because it's a policy very much worth trying.Assemblyman Todd Spitzer had an op-ed on the subject in yesterday's Sacramento Bee:
Rehabilitate, Don't Just Release InmatesYou can read the entire op-ed here.
Last year, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and I stood side by side to reform California's prison system. Together, we toured overcrowded prisons throughout the state and came to the same conclusion: California's Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation must be reformed, and inmates need better rehabilitation programs before they are released back into society.
At the time, the governor said that "we must follow through on the rehabilitation programs that we need to make sure that inmates who get released can lead productive, law-abiding lives so that our communities will stay safe."
Working together under the governor's leadership, the Legislature passed Assembly Bill 900 to give the Department of Corrections $7.7 billion to construct 53,000 new prison beds to reduce overcrowding. We also paved the way to hire more prison health care professionals to improve inmate health care. At the same time, we demanded that current rehabilitation programs, including job training, be expanded and improved so inmates who are willing to turn their lives around are given the tools to lead successful lives following their release.
But in a startling reversal, it appears that the governor's administration is now abandoning our rehabilitation reforms and is willing to accept the early release of tens of thousands of criminals before they have paid their debt to society. Why the change of heart? The governor now claims that early release before an inmate has been properly rehabilitated is necessary to reduce our state budget deficit and that public safety won't be threatened. He could not be more wrong.
In fact, some dangerous criminals could soon be out on the streets harming innocent Californians if the governor follows through with this misguided plan.
CATEGORY:
OC's Next Sheriff, The 5th Floor
Mr. Ayer registered as a Republican to be electable in an interim election with no incumbents. He did...
Now the name Spitzer and prison belong in the same sentence. Todd, is Elliot your cousin?
If we provided our children with more dynamic educations and opportunities, we wouldn't have a prison budget problem and so many destroyed lives. It's a sad state of affairs and we all need to do better.
SMS
"If we provided our children with more dynamic educations and opportunities, we wouldn't have a prison budget problem and so many destroyed lives."
It's hard to argue against that, but what do you propose? Throw more money at the education problem? I'd rather take that money and build more prisons.