Long-term inmates — and prison culture — move into county jails (LA Times)

[pinto]

Long-term inmates — and prison culture — move into county jails

Gov. Brown's plan to ease overcrowding has brought more violence and hard-core offenders into a system that was designed for short sentences. Smaller jurisdictions also face funding challenges.

By Paige St. John
September 8, 2013, 4:17 p.m.

SACRAMENTO — Gov. Jerry Brown's plan approved two years ago to ease crowding in state prisons has left county jails struggling with hard-core felons sentenced to spend years, even decades, in facilities meant to hold criminals for no more than a year.

County sheriffs warn that these long-term inmates are more than they can handle. They say they pose security threats in their already-crowded lockups and invite the same costly class-action lawsuits over medical care and services that now dog state prisons.

"Our facilities were never constructed to manage an inmate for longer than a year," said Alameda County Sheriff Greg Ahern, president of the state sheriffs association, describing jails statewide.

Before the passage of AB 109 — the 2011 law pushed by the governor to reduce California's prison population — jail sentences in California were limited to one year. Now, California has had more than 1,300 inmates sentenced to five years or more in jails, according to a sheriffs association survey and reports by individual jails.

http://www.latimes.com/local/la-me-ff-long-haul-inmates-20130909,0,7653929.story

[antiquie]

1. Is this sour grapes?

Because of the loss of private prison, er, commissions?