The Terminator Took a Beating and Surrendered

[madmusic]

Calif. Prisons May Fill By '07; Riots Feared

POSTED: 9:01 am PDT July 21, 2006

SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- California will run out of even makeshift prison beds in less than a year unless the state takes action, the state's corrections chief said Thursday, warning also of an increased danger of riots.

California's record-high population of 172,000 inmates is spilling into gymnasiums and day rooms, Acting Corrections Secretary James Tilton told lawmakers at a hearing. The state's adult prisons are designed only to hold about 100,000 and the last 3,000 of an estimated 16,000 makeshift bed spaces will be used up in months, Tilton said, leaving the state in a crisis situation.

"I will be out of beds entirely by June of '07," he told the Assembly Select Committee on Prison Construction and Operations. "We're out looking for every bed we can find."

Tilton said 42 inmates at a Chino prison spent a night last month sleeping on an outdoor basketball court because there were no cells.

His warning comes as Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger will attempt to persuade lawmakers to ease prison crowding during a special session next month, two months before the governor stands for re-election.

http://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/9555288/detail.html

[LeftCoast]

1. Instead of building EVEN MORE new prisons why don't we ask why

incarceration rates are so high? I'm tired of us paying billions and billions more each year for an out-of-control prison / 'justice' system.

:grr:

[madmusic]

3. Uh, because the prison guard union are the ones who kicked his ass.

He needs them.

[Warren DeMontague]

4. Why? Because otherwise, we'd have non-violent drug offenders

everywhere!

[demosincebirth]

13. Its partly because of the Ca "three strikes law."

[silverlib]

2. Prisons - Revenge or Rehabilitation? (n/t)

[lonestarnot]

5. Rehab, Revenge or Economy? I pick economy.

They don't give a fuck who kills who when or how, they don't care that your shit has been robbed or ripped off, but they do care that you pay your probation fees, attorney fees, judges must get paid, half-way houses have to get their money, cops, deputies need groceries. On an on, so on and so forth. And we can't forget those richies and their private contracts.

[oasis]

10. Exactamundo. Crime and punishment is a thriving industry.(eom)

[lonestarnot]

12. And it has grown to large to stop. Oppression of the poor and

weak turned criminal. Dante's inferno is burning.

[tularetom]

6. If they quit throwing first time drug offenders in jail

they'd have plenty of room for the real criminals like the Dukester, the (possibly) late Kenny Boy, Bugman Delay, not to mention * and Penis Cheney.

[sabbat hunter]

7. any numbers

does anybody have any numbers of how many first time drug offenders are in jails in CA?

and how many of them were for "soft" drugs aka pot.

[madmusic]

23. Governor OKs jail for drug offenders

By Laura Mecoy -- Bee Los Angeles Bureau

Published 12:01 am PDT Thursday, July 13, 2006
Story appeared on Page A3 of The Bee

Print | E-Mail | Comments (1)
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed a measure Wednesday that rewrites a voter-approved initiative to allow short-term jail sentences for drug offenders who fail to complete court-ordered treatment programs.

Senate Bill 1137 changes the provisions of Proposition 36, the 2000 initiative voters approved to require treatment instead of prison for certain nonviolent drug offenders.

Three out of four of those sentenced to treatment under Proposition 36 never show up for their court-ordered programs, or they fail to complete them.

A task force of prosecutors, judges, public defenders and treatment providers drafted the bill in the hope that short-term jail sentences would get drug offenders to complete treatment.

http://www.sacbee.com/content/politics/ca/story/14277536p-15086607c.html

Prosecutors already get around this by charging something other than drugs. For example, if someone tries to hide the drugs when they see the police, that is a non-drug related offense, which excludes them from Prop 36.

Poor Prescription: The Costs of Imprisoning Drug Offenders in the United States



It is clear that we cannot arrest our way out of the problem of chronic drug abuse and drug-driven crime. We cannot continue to apply policies and programs that do not deal with the root causes of substance abuse and attendant crime. Nor should we expect to continue to have the widespread societal support for our counter-drug programs if the American people begin to believe these programs are unfair.
- Barry R. McCaffrey, Director, Office of National Drug Control Policy1

They have not stemmed the drug trade. The only thing they've done is to fill the prisons.
- Retired Republican New York State Senator John Dunne.2

I. Introduction

As America entered the new millennium we culminated the most punishing decade in our nation's history. While the number of persons in jail and prison grew by 462,006 in the seven decades from 1910 to 1980, in the 1990s alone, the number of jail and prison inmates grew by an estimated 816,965. As the millennium turned, America's prison and jail populations approached the 2 million mark, with that dubious distinction likely to be achieved within a year of the release of this report.3

The cost of this massive growth in incarceration is staggering. Americans will spend nearly $40 billion on prisons and jails in the year 2000. Almost $24 billion of that will go to incarcerate 1.2 million nonviolent offenders. Meanwhile, in two of our nation's largest states, California and New York, the prison budgets outstripped the budgets for higher education during the mid-1990s.

http://www.cjcj.org/pubs/poor/pp.html

[elocs]

9. This has always been my problem with our prison philosophy.

I want people put in prison who have committed the kind of crimes that I would not want to meet them on a dark street. I want people put into prison who need to be separated from society for the good and safety of society. I am in much more danger from drunk drivers, who seem to get umpteen second chances, than I am from a first time or small time drug user.

[Warren DeMontague]

22. I don't think they should put *any* drug offenders in jail.

Unless they're committing a real crime, like hurting someone else, robbing a bank, or driving under the influence.

The idea that a free citizen's nervous system and bloodstream belongs to the government, that the government has any business telling consenting adults what they can do with their own bodies, is offensive as hell.

We spend $40 Billion a year on a drug war aimed primarily at pot. Legalize pot, adopt a harm reduction strategy for the really hard ones, and fund treatment on demand. That's my take on the matter.

[flyarm]

8. calif 3 strike policy???? maybe?? n/t

[demosincebirth]

14. Exactly!

[SoCalDem]

11. For every prison, build 3 community colleges...

start 3 community jobs programs for 17-20 yr olds
start 3 community centers for after school fun activities
build 3 ballfields/swimming pools/rehab centers

and the need for all those prisons might just go away

[lonestarnot]

15. Then what do you do with all the arrested offenders under current

law? Crowd them into one pokey? I agree with you, and would prefer your suggestions, but also think law needs to be fixed.

[SoCalDem]

16. All but the violent ones should not be there..

Ankle bracelets and schooling would solve a lot of the problems..

[lonestarnot]

17. What about white collar?

[SoCalDem]

18. Confiscate all their wealth, put an ankle bracelet on them,

and make them work a menial job.. Oh.. publicly humiliate them first

[lonestarnot]

19. I want some revenge!

:evilgrin:

[SoCalDem]

20. Skilling asking .."Want fries with that" would be revenge

no? :evilgrin:

[lonestarnot]

21. Yes!

:rofl: