Commentary: Where does California put 33,000 released inmates?

**Curt James** · 05-26-2011, 10:14 AM

Where does California put 33,000 released inmates?

By Ruben Navarrette Jr., CNN Contributor
UPDATED: 08:55 AM EDT 05.26.11

Hasn't California suffered enough?

Apparently not, according to the U.S. Supreme Court. In the name of reducing prison overcrowding and preserving a "standard of decency," the high court this week handed down a decision that could set the stage for something indecent: the release of tens of thousands of prisoners back into society.

Just when Californians thought they had seen it all and endured it all. The Golden State has withstood drought, mudslides, fires and earthquakes. It has a massive budget deficit, about $9.6 billion, that only looks manageable by comparison with what it was just a few months ago, $25.4 billion, before the state tallied up tax revenue from high-income Californians.

The state has an unemployment rate that is higher than the national average at 11.7 percent, and it has one of the highest rates of mortgage foreclosures per capita in the country.

What's next? How about "Get Out of Jail Free" cards for 33,000 inmates in the state prison system?

It could happen.

In a 5-4 decision this week, the Supreme Court upheld a 2009 ruling by a lower court that ordered California officials to shrink the prison population by about 25 percent.

The state could decide how to meet that goal, the lower court said, but the goal had to be met one way or another.

No stalling. No excuses.

After the high court seconded that motion, state officials tried to offer assurances that they wouldn't arbitrarily grant early release to such a large number of inmates. Instead, they promised to submit a plan to the federal courts in two weeks, spelling out other remedies for prison overcrowding.

So far, all Gov. Jerry Brown and state lawmakers have come up with is the Band-Aid of housing nonviolent felons with short sentences in county jails, not that there is much vacancy there, either.

In the Supreme Court decision, the all-important swing vote belonged to Justice Anthony Kennedy. A former California resident himself, Kennedy wrote that cramming 143,435 prisoners into facilities that are operating at 200 percent capacity constituted "serious constitutional violations" resulting in "injury and harm."

But, in a dissent, Justice Samuel Alito warned that any mass prisoner release would be tantamount to "gambling with the safety of the people of California."

As a native Californian intent on keeping my family safe, I'm with Alito.

With all this talk about the rights of prisoners who broke the law, where's the concern for the rights of citizens who obey the law -- and then have to pay among the highest tax rates in the nation to house, feed and provide health care to those who don't?

And speaking of health care, the prison population is experiencing the same thing that the rest of society is going through: aging. And naturally, as prisoners get older, their health care costs go up.

Perhaps the only silver lining to the release order is that it provides state officials the chance to do what some prison reform advocates have long argued for: releasing older people -- say, 65 and over -- whose days of committing crime are probably behind them. Another option is for the state to parole nonviolent drug offenders and stop using prisons as poor substitutes for treatment facilities.

It could also take inmates who are illegal immigrants and deport them to their home countries.

Yet, at the same time, it's not right to blame the courts for pointing out the obvious: California prisons are bursting at the seams. The state's 33 correctional facilities operate at 200 percent capacity, with three prisoners crammed into 6-foot-by-9-foot cells that were intended to hold just one.

Part of the reason for the overcrowding is that the state prison population has increased 75 percent in the past 20 years.

And part of it is because prison construction hasn't kept pace with that reality.

The "people of California" who Alito talks about have been kicking this can down the road for decades.

In fact, I remember, when I was a senior in high school, my government teacher handed out a selection of topics for the class to debate. One of the items was "prison reform." That was nearly 30 years ago.

It's not just prison reform. The state is being devoured by the unsustainable burden of funding public employee pensions, and most of its residents have let to face that reality as well. The state motto might as well be: "Why confront today a crisis you can put off until tomorrow?"

Californians haven't wanted to build prisons not only because we didn't want to pay for it but also -- and just as important -- because we didn't want brick and mortar structures full of prisoners in our backyard.

Now, we might get the prisoners living next door, but without the brick and mortar buildings.

The opinions in this commentary are solely those of Ruben Navarrette Jr.

From CNN.com

**Big Pimpin** · 05-26-2011, 10:19 AM

Personally, I don't care.

California legislated, regulated and spent their way into being one of the worst states in the country to live in and start a business in. Mexican cartels can take that shit hole and its prisons over for all I care.

**myCATpowerlifts** · 05-26-2011, 10:32 AM

simple fix: legalize marijuana.
Free all offenders who are in for this, across the nation.
Done.

**IronAddict** · 05-26-2011, 10:32 AM

This is not good news! And yes, California has had real big problems, thanks to feckless & greedy politicians, alike. But, now the Supreme Court is getting in on the act. How many people have to get beat at Dodger games, at the super markets, or even the car wash, this is not the answer !

Also, we can add to those Natural disasters that were listed above. My whole life I've lived in California, minus the years I was being used by the U.S Government.

Yesterday, California had a freakin tornado!!!

**sprayherup** · 05-26-2011, 10:46 AM

They could just hurry up and kill the ones on death row. That's a start.

**Big Pimpin** · 05-26-2011, 10:46 AM

Originally Posted by sprayherup

They could just hurry up and kill the ones on death row. That's a start.

**sprayherup** · 05-26-2011, 10:50 AM

Originally Posted by IronAddict

This is not good news! And yes, California has had real big problems, thanks to feckless & greedy politicians, alike. But, now the Supreme Court is getting in on the act. How many people have to get beat at Dodger games, at the super markets, or even the car wash, this is not the answer !

Also, we can add to those Natural disasters that were listed above. My whole life I've lived in California, minus the years I was being used by the U.S Government.

Yesterday, California had a freakin tornado!!!

**LAM** · 05-26-2011, 10:50 AM

so glad I have dual citizenship...

**Little Wing** · 05-26-2011, 11:30 AM

200 percent capacity, with three prisoners crammed into 6-foot-by-9-foot cells that were intended to hold just one.

someone's bad at math.

let non violent drug offenders out. people in for things like tax evasion etc. or make tent city prisons in the middle of the desert or best idea... start executing bad guys. doh.

**LAM** · 05-26-2011, 11:55 AM

Originally Posted by Little Wing

start executing bad guys. doh.

the death penalty is not a deterrent, it's been in use for hundreds of years now so there is ample data. it has the opposite effect.

in a perfect world it would, but then again in a perfect world it wouldn't be needed...

**Big Pimpin** · 05-26-2011, 11:57 AM

Originally Posted by LAM

the death penalty is not a deterrent, it's been in use for hundreds of years now so there is ample data. it has the opposite effect.

in a perfect world it would, but then again in a perfect world it wouldn't be needed...

It's not a deterrent because we don't do it fast enough. It works well in places like Iran and Syria where they do that shit the same week.

**LAM** · 05-26-2011, 12:08 PM

Originally Posted by Big Pimpin

It's not a deterrent because we don't do it fast enough. It works well in places like Iran and Syria where they do that shit the same week.

they also stone people to death for marrying outside of their religion....not the most sophisticated societies.

**myCATpowerlifts** · 05-26-2011, 12:23 PM

we could chop em up, and feed em to the poor?

**sprayherup** · 05-26-2011, 12:40 PM

Originally Posted by LAM

the death penalty is not a deterrent, it's been in use for hundreds of years now so there is ample data. it has the opposite effect.

in a perfect world it would, but then again in a perfect world it wouldn't be needed...

Neither is the threat of going to jail. So what's your point?

There is no such thing as rehabilitating rapists, serial killers, murderers, etc so might as well remove them from the living.

GICH!

**suppRatings** · 05-26-2011, 12:55 PM

Theyll be rearrested within weeks and it will be a cycle that never stops

**SloppyJ** · 05-26-2011, 01:13 PM

Legalize drugs and tax them.... 2 birds 1 stone.

**IronAddict** · 05-26-2011, 01:41 PM

Originally Posted by myCATpowerlifts

simple fix: legalize marijuana.
Free all offenders who are in for this, across the nation.
Done.

Originally Posted by SloppyJ

Legalize drugs and tax them.... 2 birds 1 stone.

Yup, seems like a relatively simple fix...

**maniclion** · 05-26-2011, 01:49 PM

When I heard it on the radio a couple days ago first thought in my mind was, Release the people in there for marijuana violations....then force tax evaders, embezzlers, white collar con men into the special border patrol military they can work off their debt or make restitution to those they stole from....

**MDR** · 05-26-2011, 01:55 PM

Pretty funny coming from Ruben Navarrette. He's the same guy who wants to open the floodgates at the Mexican/US border. I'm surprised to hear he is against releasing 33,000 low level criminals, most of whom are going to be out in short order anyway. He seems to be arguing to protect the citizens in one way, and ignoring the dangers of reckless and foolish policies related to Immigration on the other.

**Nadar** · 05-26-2011, 02:25 PM

Cali is a nice place to visit, but not to reside.

**Little Wing** · 05-26-2011, 02:50 PM

Originally Posted by LAM

the death penalty is not a deterrent, it's been in use for hundreds of years now so there is ample data. it has the opposite effect.

in a perfect world it would, but then again in a perfect world it wouldn't be needed...

it deters many people. if it were swift and brutal it would deter more. you are ignoring all the people who really would like to kill certain people but don't do it because of the consequences. it's bs that it is not a deterrent because it just stops the majority of people from killing. if it wasn't no pedophile or rapist etc would be alive cuz someone's parents or the victims would kill them. etc etc. i am SO sick of hearing how the death penalty is not a deterrent. it keeps a few people i know alive.

**myCATpowerlifts** · 05-26-2011, 03:28 PM

Also what about wrongly accused in prison...you gonna pretend that doesn't happen?

**LAM** · 05-26-2011, 03:41 PM

Originally Posted by Little Wing

it deters many people. if it were swift and brutal it would deter more. you are ignoring all the people who really would like to kill certain people but don't do it because of the consequences. it's bs that it is not a deterrent because it just stops the majority of people from killing. if it wasn't no pedophile or rapist etc would be alive cuz someone's parents or the victims would kill them. etc etc. i am SO sick of hearing how the death penalty is not a deterrent. it keeps a few people i know alive.

it's been in use for 400 years....plenty of data showing it simply does not work

besides Japan the US is the only other OECD country that still has not abolished the death penalty.

DNA testing free's those wrongly convicted more and more every year...easy to say "fuck" the ones that have been put to death wrongly when it isn't you...

**maniclion** · 05-26-2011, 03:57 PM

Originally Posted by LAM

it's been in use for 400 years....plenty of data showing it simply does not work

besides Japan the US is the only other OECD country that still has not abolished the death penalty.

DNA testing free's those wrongly convicted more and more every year...easy to say "fuck" the ones that have been put to death wrongly when it isn't you...

What do you mean it doesn't work? We kill scumbags who don't deserve to live and suck money from our taxes, that works for me...

People who are absolutely proven guilty like Ted Kazcinsky, Charles Manson, Dahmer, etc.. should be put down within a couple months from the day they are sentenced(enough time to psyco analyze them for research purposes), they don't deserve to be anymore of a burden on society, waste of resources and take up space needed to keep prisoners of a little more than no value at all like them....

**Curt James** · 05-26-2011, 04:01 PM

Originally Posted by LAM

the death penalty is not a deterrent, it's been in use for hundreds of years now so there is ample data. it has the opposite effect.

in a perfect world it would, but then again in a perfect world it wouldn't be needed...

Not as a deterrent, but simply to free up space.

Would suck, though, to be the man or woman unjustly imprisoned.

"Hey, pal, we have to free up some space. You're going to be executed this afternoon. Kthxbye!"

Originally Posted by MDR

Pretty funny coming from Ruben Navarrette. He's the same guy who wants to open the floodgates at the Mexican/US border. I'm surprised to hear he is against releasing 33,000 low level criminals, most of whom are going to be out in short order anyway. He seems to be arguing to protect the citizens in one way, and ignoring the dangers of reckless and foolish policies related to Immigration on the other.

Perhaps he was going for the sensationalistic tidbit.

These guys overreacting?

Originally Posted by LAM

the ones that have been put to death wrongly when it isn't you...

I haven't read Grisham's "The Innocent Man," but it seems to cover that scenario.

The Innocent Man: Murder and Injustice in a Small Town - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The idea of legalizing marijuana seems like a good idea. I suspect most smoke for personal enjoyment while others clearly smoke as part of a medical treatment program.

And someone has to develop or promote an organization to serve as an equivalent of NORML on the behalf of male hormones, etc. The use of AAS and THC are victimless "crimes," imo.

**Little Wing** · 05-26-2011, 04:10 PM

Originally Posted by maniclion

What do you mean it doesn't work? We kill scumbags who don't deserve to live and suck money from our taxes, that works for me...

People who are absolutely proven guilty like Ted Kazcinsky, Charles Manson, Dahmer, etc.. should be put down within a couple months from the day they are sentenced(enough time to psyco analyze them for research purposes), they don't deserve to be anymore of a burden on society, waste of resources and take up space needed to keep prisoners of a little more than no value at all like them....

exactly. a lot of people who are nothing but a financial burden are guilty beyond any doubt at all of heinous crimes against innocent people. i have no mercy for them and no desire to pay for everything from their pillow to their shit paper for the rest of their lives or see them get free health care while my mom struggles to pay for hers.

seriously... i don't get the thought process. oh this guy raped a baby we proved it was his semen in her torn dead vagina and rectum. he was seen dumping her body. i don't fucking CARE if the death penalty didn't deter him. kill him. he is useless and deserves to die. um, no that's too mean. lets pay all his bills for four years then let him out so he can do it again cuz NOT killing him is a deterrent????? why is if it's a deterrent even an argument?

**SFW** · 05-26-2011, 04:14 PM

^ in most societies, children are supposed to help with their aging parents.

Just food for thought there.

**Little Wing** · 05-26-2011, 04:25 PM

Originally Posted by SFW

^ in most societies, children are supposed to help with their aging parents.

Just food for thought there.

which some children would be more able to do if they didn't have to pay to house the cockroaches in prisons, build more prisons, pay the food bill, heat, air conditioning, and every little healthcare expense etc. some people find ways to hide money from uncle sam so they can put it to use where THEY want it to go.

free those people and stoners not anyone violent.

**jhud25** · 05-30-2011, 06:54 AM

in your backyard

**troubador** · 05-30-2011, 07:32 AM

We need to just build a wall between the U.S. and California. Cut our losses.

Thread: Commentary: Where does California put 33,000 released inmates?

Thread Tools

Display

Commentary: Where does California put 33,000 released inmates?

Similar Threads

2008 NPC California & IFBB California Pro Figure

2008 NPC California & IFBB California Pro Figure

inmates

Interesting sports commentary

Sports commentary bloopers ...

Posting Permissions