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REVOLVING DOORS: The crisis in California's parole system
State's parole system staggers near collapse
By MARK WALKER and TERI FIGUEROA - Staff Writers | ∞
An inmate with gang tattoos, right, walks around a track at the R.J. Donovan Correctional Facility. (Photo by Jamie Scott Lytle - staff photographer) Each year, nearly 2,000 men and women walk out of California's overcrowded prisons and back into the North County communities where they lived.
Most have no job and no place to live. Many are struggling with drug or alcohol addiction.
Few will succeed in rebuilding their lives, authorities say. A majority of parolees will return to prison within months of their release, some after committing crimes in their neighborhoods, others for violating parole.
This is California's parole system, an overworked, underfunded system that is ill-equipped to deal with a crushing caseload of former prisoners who leave prison with a meager $200 allowance to feed, clothe and house themselves.
It's a caseload that stands to get much worse if a panel of federal judges conducting a trial in San Francisco to address overcrowding orders the early release of nearly 40,000 men and women now behind bars to ease prison overcrowding.
"California's parole population is now so large and its parole agents so overburdened that parolees who represent a serious public safety threat are not watched closely and those who wish to go straight cannot get the help they need," said a federally funded report released last month by three experts on the criminal justice system.
Legislators, corrections officials, academics and community leaders acknowledge the seemingly insurmountable challenges in changing a parole system that too often fails those who need the help and those charged with giving it.
"If we don't help them make it, they are going to go back to what they know," warned Jerome Marsh, chief deputy regional administrator for the Southern California parole region.
Parole caseload
California is one of only a handful of states that requires parole for everyone released from prison.
All parolees are on supervised release. They are subject to search at any time; they may not carry any weapons and they must regularly report their address, job status and any plans to leave the county or state.
When parolees are released, they must return to the county that sent them to prison. For many, that puts them back in the same neighborhood where trouble, and drugs, seduced them in the first place.
For most, the temptations are too great. Seven out of every 10 parolees are back in prison ---- recidivists ---- within months of their release, most for minor parole violations such as a positive drug test.
The stress of living on the outside after 12 years "in a box" took a toll on Ricardo Guzman. The Vista resident said he recently turned to his old heroin habit ---- "jumped back into the spoon" ---- after becoming frustrated with life on the outside.
"I've been gone so long," Guzman said. "It's such an uncomfortable feeling. And there is no one to talk to about it, because no one in my family has ever done time. They don't understand what I am going through. I don't know how to live out here. I don't know how to deal with the problems and the stress."
After calling his parole agent, admitting his own drug use and asking for help, Guzman waited for a bed to open at a local rehab.
"I'm not stupid," he said. "I just don't have the tools for this particular part of my life right now."
Rehabilitation got lost
In an ideal world, Guzman would have acquired those tools before he got out of prison.
But California's prisons provide little training.
Rehabilitation in the bulging prisons has long been only an afterthought.
In the last three decades, with a philosophic shift toward taking a harder line on crime, the state changed its sentencing laws. In the past, most prisoners had to go before a parole board to lobby for early release. These days, when an inmate's time is up, the prison gates open and they walk out.
The new laws did not force prisoners to prove, as they had in the past, that they had a place to go and prospects for reintegrating into their communities.
Somewhere, rehabilitation got lost.
It is a problem inmates and panels who have looked at the state's system say is massive and unyielding.
Half of all inmates sit on their bunks instead of getting job training, according to the state. When their time is up ---- most serve a sentence of about two years ---- they are automatically released. Most will spend the next three years on parole.
And most will get the bare minimum of monitoring required by the state: two 15-minute meetings a month with their parole agent, and for many, drug testing.
Odds are low they will successfully reintegrate into their community.
But odds are good they will go back to what they know, be it snorting methamphetamine, kiting checks or congregating with gang members. Odds are good they will carry a knife or hide from their parole agent ---- and eventually land back in prison.
Anita Paredes, who runs Community Connection Resource Center in San Diego, said a lack of jobs ---- and job skills ---- is a big obstacle for many parolees. Until recently, there were no vocational programs at R.J. Donovan Correctional Facility in Otay Mesa, and that has only changed in recent months.
"The system is so massive and so broken," Paredes said. "It takes a long time to get any change. It's a very complicated situation."
'Making a better criminal'
Most of those whose parole is revoked wind up back in prison for an average of four months before being re-released. The result is that parolees such as Guzman end up serving what the rehabilitation report called a "life sentence on the installment plan."
Benny Benavidez, who oversees parole services for San Diego and Imperial counties, refers to the revolving doors of the prison system as "churn."
"Too often, we are churning the same individual back and forth, back and forth," he said during a recent interview. "And in some ways, we are making him a better criminal instead of a better citizen."
With three decades of experience in corrections, Benavidez says prison and parole have become a "societal dumping ground" for those with substance abuse and mental health problems.
"A lot of that is a nuisance to the general public and law enforcement, so they get pushed through the system," he said. "You can lock them away and they're out of sight and out of mind, but eventually 97 percent of these guys will get out and what have we done with them?"
A few years ago, the state added "rehabilitation" to the title of the corrections department, and Benavidez said his parole agents have embraced the philosophy.
"I see a big focus now trying to make better use of every single resource we have out there," he said. "But there is no magic pill, and that's the frustrating thing about it."
Under the reforms, Benavidez said, parole agents are becoming "super brokers" in identifying a parolee's needs, the risk they pose and referring them to the appropriate job or drug program.
"But it's a tremendous workload," he said.
Parole agents, sworn peace officers who carry guns, are responsible for an average of 70 parolees, nearly double the national average.
Heart-to-heart talks
Police officers such as Oceanside's Lt. Joe Young say maintaining close working relationships with overburdened parole agents is crucial to keeping tabs on felons.
"The key is having a strong relationship with parolees and talking with them on a constant basis," he said. "From my perspective, and even though their agents are stretched to the limits, what we've been able to do has worked very well."
When parolees, particularly high-level gang members, near release, the state notifies the police.
"We then go into the neighborhood where they have strong ties to see if they still have the ability to call the shots and influence the foot soldiers," Young said. "Our goal is to take away whatever those resources might be."
Often, Young or members of his nine-member special enforcement unit will have heart-to-heart talks with paroled gang members to try and steer them away from repeating the criminal lifestyle that landed them in prison.
"We try and make them realize what they have on the outside," he said. "Unfortunately, it's not very often successful, but you can't ignore it as an option."
Forcing change
Options are what the state needs more of to break the cycle of prison, parole and back to prison, state officials and correctional experts agree. Options that embrace rehabilitation and everything that comes with that: transitional housing, better job programs and rehabilitation facilities for all who want them.
"For too long, parole has been little more than surveil, nail and jail," said Barry Krisberg, president of the Oakland-based National Council on Crime and Delinquency. "What we need is a genuine focus on re-entry into the community because just cracking down on parolees is a failure that's reflected in the recidivism rates."
In 2006, 40,000 people landed in prison for a new crime, while nearly 80,000 were sent to prison for violating parole, said state Sen. George Runner, a representative of Antelope Valley.
"California is the only state that sends more people to prison from parole than court," said Runner, the point person for Republican state senators who have intervened in the federal case over the fate of California prisons.
Runner said that even though longer sentences are politically popular, they are not always the answer. Instead, efforts should be placed on increasing the odds of an inmate's successful return back into society.
Krisberg agreed and said recent parole reforms that established sanctions for violations that don't mandate a return to prison is one small step in the right direction.
"But fundamentally, we'll never get substantial results by depending on state employees," he said. "The money needs to go down to those in the local community willing to deliver the services that make a difference, such as transitional housing and employment. We have to get out of the failure model."
Krisberg said two measures on the Nov. 4 ballot would have distributed millions to local cities to reduce caseloads for parole officers, mandate 90 days of rehabilitation for every prisoner before release and create county-operated programs for nonviolent youth offenders.
Voters rejected both propositions.
A trial began last week in San Francisco to determine what should be done to relieve overcrowding in the state's prisons, believed to be a root cause of what the judges said is constitutionally inadequate health care.
What a panel of federal judges does following the trial is likely to reshape the debate about parole ---- and the prison system in general.
The judges have indicated they may order the early release of as many as 40,000 prisoners, a move that could send an additional 3,120 parolees to San Diego County, according to an estimate produced by the state Republican Assembly Caucus.
If they do, parolees such as Guzman, a heroin addict, are likely to find it even harder to get the help they need when they fall off the wagon.
"I want to be free, like most people," he said. "We don't want to go back to prison. We just don't know how to live out here."
Contact staff writer Mark Walker at (760) 740-3529 or mlwalker@nctimes.com. Contact staff writer Teri Figueroa at (760) 740-5442 or tfigueroa@nctimes.com.
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group home wrote on Nov 22, 2008 5:36 PM:We had one of those lovely group homes directly behind our house in a very nice neighborhood in Vista. We discovered what it was only after many months later. The former owner of our home, who moved out of state, did not bother to tell us.
First we noticed the tattooed men who seemed unrelated, how they all rushed out into the backyard every thirty or forty minutes to smoke. Then we noticed the nightly sheriff helicopters flying around and around our neighborhood. Wrought iron outside furniture disappeared. Cars parked outside of garages were broken into regularly. Sheriff cars seem to always cruise the neighborhood or be parked in front of the house.
Only many months after we moved in did we learn the home directly behind our house was group home for substance abusers.
I immediately called the city. I found out there is no license from the city required for these homes. There is no re-zoning hearing. Neighbors have no rights to prevent a group home from opening next door. All this told to me by a Vista city employee who used to live next to a group home but sold his house before California full disclosure laws went into effect which required the prospective buyers be notified. City employee was so relieved he was able to get out of his house before he had to tell new owners. He said he had had terrible problems with the residents of the group home before he got his house sold.
For us disclosure laws were in effect but did not help as the former owners moved to the east coast.
City employee told me that only the state could license homes not the city. The city of Vista, nor any other city, were not allowed to stop the licensing. Lovely. The state also does not need to, in fact will not, notify neighbors when an ordinary family house on an ordinary residential street is secretly turned into a group home. There will be no sign outside. Nothing will change except for the kind of people living inside.
Our problem got solved when the owner lost the home due to financial problems. The ordinary looking house was sold to a nice young family who moved in and live there still. The sheriff helicopters have not been back. Cars are not being broken into. Seems like we lucked out. Yet every time a house sells in the neighborhood I wonder if someone will buy it and convert it to a group home and our neighborhood problems will start again.
Grump wrote on Nov 22, 2008 6:09 PM:If odds are so low they will successfully integrate into society, let’s build more prisons and keep them there, that is the one thing I am willing to pay more taxes for.
Frank wrote on Nov 22, 2008 6:39 PM:California's lawmakers such as George Runner pushed long sentences such as three strikes. Today more crimes are felonies and DA's enhance misdemeanors into felonies. So called wobblers DA’s have used to give life sentences to drug users and shoplifters. Because of Three Strikes ¼ of the prison population are strikers serving either double time or 25 years to life! Most had prior’s years before three strikes was enacted. So DA’s used those priors to win 25 to life sentences. It was the tough on crime crowd George Runner is a part of, is exactly why we have such a large prison population. As the population grew, it became impossible to offer any rehabilitation. The answer is to re-sentence thousands of inmates. Parole only those that would be a threat to public safety. Replace the BPH with judges instead of law enforcement and crime victim advocates. The system is broken because lawmakers like George Runner broke it!
Artsyrat wrote on Nov 22, 2008 9:09 PM:If I didn't know better I would have thought I wrote the first comment written by 'group home'. We too have SEVERAL group homes in our neighborhood. One in particular houses as many as 30 men and/or women at any given time. For a while there it was obvious they were selling drugs out of the place. At the same time there was another group home only 1 block away that housed 16 registered sex offenders! Imagine that, and then there are the other group homes as well. We as neighbors were shocked that the city would allow this many criminals to live in one area.
We (neighbors) went to the City of Vista and got the same response. They were actually smug and almost rude to us about it, responding to us as if we were in the wrong by telling them our concerns and frustrations. We did however have some success in our outcome. Not as we would have liked, but it's better than nothing.
To this day we have a group of law abiding, tax paying, voting neighbors who watch these homes and their activites. We have a neighborhood web site with group email where we communicate all criminal activity in our area including these group homes.
Living this nightmare wrote on Nov 22, 2008 9:38 PM:My sweetie was on his 4th year of a 5 year probation period when he was sent to RJ Donovan prison. We are 2 normal people who would go to our jobs every day and come home and spend our evenings together watching tv and make dinner. He would check in diligently with his probation officer and miss work and pay even though numerous times his probation officer did not show. On his last appointment his PO said his case was being transferred to a "lower level" and he would not need to check in until he was called in about 3 months from that day. A week later he recieved a call to return to the office and when he waited for 3 hours and no one showed the receptionist told him to leave and he did not need to sign in because he was there the previous week. BIG MISTAKE! My babe never recieved a phone call from the PO and figured it was a misunderstanding. 3 months later he was picked up for a speeding ticket and ARRESTED!!! for absconding, not checking in with probation. He was sentenced to his original sentence for the crime he committed almost 5 years ago. The judge did NOT CARE that he had been on probation for 4 years without any problems and DID NOT take time to read the letters from family and friends plus highly reguarded letter from his employer that he was one of the best workers they had. He never called in sick and was there everyday and gave his best. For a non violent probation violation he was sent to prison for over a year!!! Our tax dollars pay for many like him that are serving time for petty crimes. I visit regularly and hear the stories of many that are there for minor violations or petty crimes under the 3 strikes law. Its like a babysitting service for grown men. We dump billions of tax dollars into the prison systems we rather lock them all up and not spend a cent on education or job training for them. We rather pass propositions on making sure a chicken has a decent size cage before we kill it and eat it. I hope some read this and understand these problems need to be addressed by our lawmakers and public officials.
Roger wrote on Nov 23, 2008 7:32 AM:Grump, at 6:09 AM, is right. It would be a whole lot cheaper to keep habitual criminals locked up than have to continually rearrest and reconvict them.
John wrote on Nov 23, 2008 8:32 AM:California should have passed Prop 5 this time around. The state cannot afford to keep wasting money incarcerating drug users instead of giving them treatment. Day of reckoning is coming as the coffers shrink.
ex con wrote on Nov 23, 2008 9:20 AM:i would like to say,as an ex con,that our "system" is in sad need of repair.The so called rehab programs are not run well,nothing like what the general public is told. Most programs are reserved for a priveledged few,not the "short time" recidivist.In many cases street drugs are brought in to the prisons BY the counselors that there to "help".I have successfully reintergrated into my community,and into a legal and profitable business.My success had nothing to do with "the system" but my own drive and hard work. More prisons are not the answer,a better system of parole and pre release preperation would be a better place to start,in addition to vocational opportunities for all inmates{not just a priveledged few}
Gringo wrote on Nov 23, 2008 12:53 PM:Drug users are not criminals and should not be in our jails and prisons period. Drugs dealers are. Drug users should be sent to therapy not locked up with criminals who are involved in strong armed robbery and gang related thug life. Legal Alcohol has killed many more innocent lives than non legal marijuana.
rehab please wrote on Nov 23, 2008 1:05 PM:There needs to be better rehab than what's been going on. I've met people who would rather be in jail. It's just too hard to make it in the outside world.
Tici wrote on Nov 23, 2008 1:10 PM:I've been out 10 months after doing 6 years at the woman's prison in chowchilla. There is a program called P3 (Parolee Partnership Program) which pays for 6 months in a residential treatment program. I took advantage of this and was able to get some help. Unfortnately there is a waiting list for men but if someone is serious about changing their life around, they will place them somewhere.There is help for parolees through this program.I am now living in a sober living home. I do agree the funding for other things is lacking. There is the Strive Program which is an intensive job trainng class and Community Connections, but to get vouchers for food, clothing, transportation, etc. is almost impossible. I have three little tatoos I want removed and they said they don't have the funding for that anymore.I know its hard out here for us but I believe the money the state parole does have should be used for the parolees who are trying to change their lifes around and not for the ones who are constantly giving dirty tests and violating. If an ex-con can stay clean and live as a law-abiding citizen, I think the money should be invested in him before the unmotivated, crime committing drug addict who wants the state to pay for everything, without lifting a finger. Vocational Programs out here would sure help!
Bruce wrote on Nov 23, 2008 5:10 PM:3 strikes should be a capital crime. If you commit three felonies you die. Stop fooling around here, these crooks need to rehab or die. Better them than you or a loved one that becomes their next target.
The cost savings would be huge, the incentive to become a useful member of society is huge, the citizens safe and more secure!
Criminals and Gang Members Anonymous CGA wrote on Nov 23, 2008 5:44 PM:Criminals and Gangs Anonymous (CGA) is a 12 step program for juveniles and adults. It was founded by a gang member who believes that gang members are actually triple addicted: to the gang, to criminal thinking and to one or more substances.
The organization is composed primarily of ex-gang members recovering from a destructive lifestyle. In prisons it is facilitated through the Catholic chaplain. With proven success the California Department of Corrections & Rehabilitation indicated its plans to implement the program throughout the system currently at Donovan. The Warden at Donovan Correctional Facility has embraced CGA within the prison setting as other Wardens to date.
CGA is now in other states and other countries too. Perhaps the anti-gang task force efforts could collaborate with the Arch Diocese.
You'll be surprised about the advances you will make in your communities against the criminal behaviors of those who will benefit from implementing CGA.
mg wrote on Nov 24, 2008 12:07 AM:if you were truly not notified, and there is a disclosure law, then you can sue the the broker who sold you the house and the former owner, regardless of where they reside now.
not to mention that the broker/owner broke laws in not disclosing this information.
your home value might be substantially lowered by your neighbors you didnt know about and werent told about.
contact a lawyer. ////
that said,
the idiots out there voting need to take into account that our prisoners are going to get out at some point and it would be better for everyone if they had the tools to succeed and not just commit more crimes. Wake up. Its not being soft on criminals. Its being smart about our future. We have the largest prison poplulation of any country in the world. Why is that? Why do we charge children as adults? As if once they commit a crime suddenly they have matured somehow?
jerry wrote on Nov 24, 2008 5:50 AM:was reading your article and agree that there are other ways for california to ease on this overcrowding crisis.I was convicted in 1996 for welfare fraud and was sentenced too 3 yrs with 3 yrs parole.when I got out,I had no where too live except in another state were my family lived.I had asked for a transfer too that state and was denied by my parole agent.I left anyway because I needed That second chance and was violated and returned to california.the whole time I was there doing my violation,I had asked for a transfer to a new state since I had re-married and was holding a good job and they just ignored me.its now 2008 and I haven't had no trouble with the law execpt for californias so-called violation laws.california needs to see this with people like me and quit being a "take all prisioner law".
Very Sad wrote on Nov 24, 2008 6:55 AM:There is no rehabilitation in the prisons. There is no help for finding jobs or anything else. The Parole Officers are overwhelmed and offer very little if any help. Parolees are forced to go back to the county of offense even though families may have moved setting them up for zero support and failure. All the money Davis threw at the prison guards for votes are coming back to haunt us the taxpayers. The money should have went to work programs and counciling so we didn't need so many guards. Unfortunately that would have required a little leadership and forward thinking which he and our legislature majority lack.
Arlo wrote on Nov 24, 2008 7:58 AM:Lets ship them all to San Clemente Island. Let them learn to work together for survival.
Heart Broken wrote on Nov 24, 2008 8:02 AM:I have a very dear close relative who, at the age of 12, became addicted to Crystal Meth. He is currently 34 years old. This was before the closed campus policies and pushers came right on the school grounds to sell these drugs to young children. He has been in and out of drug rehabilitation programs, he is also 100% disabled due to brain damage caused by the chemicals used to make Crystal Meth. His first felony was shop lifting a carton of cigarretts! Can you imagine that being a felony? This was before the incredible sin tax increases on tobacco and the value of that carton was less than $25. But the DA pushed it as a felony. My relative's social worker testified as to his reduced mental capacities, his evaluation and diagnosis as Paranoid Schizo, Bi-Polar and several other mental conditions due to the brain damage, but he was sent in for hard time regardless of his need for long term treatment. He also suffers with short term memory loss and has been violated several times because he couldn't remember when to report to his PO. He is not a hard core criminal, but he is seriously mentally ill. Due to his addiction, when he is in a residential program and is taking his medications daily because the people running the program schedule it and administer the med's, he does great! But then they say he is all better and release him to a lesser facility where he has to remember to take his medications. Instead of taking his med's he reverts back to crystal meth and the vicious circle starts all over again! There was a terrible breakdown when he was not protected on school property and is now being punished for that breakdown. Where is justice in this? The PO's are so overwhelmed with caseloads, that they violate young men and women just to reduce that wordload. The State of California must remedy this! The way it is being done is costing us tax payers and property owners way too much. To me, it seems like there is an awful lot of waste in the levels of administration in so many areas of California Government, so much redundancy. Why are their directors, 4 assitant directors, each having a complete staff of assitants, support staff and then lower level sub-directors? The way I see it, you could cut government, at the state level, by 75% and function a whole lot better. What State Employee earns, I don't mean is paid, but earns over $80,000/year? How many are paid far in excess of $100,000/year? The balance and the justice system is broken.
Frank wrote on Nov 24, 2008 8:26 AM:Bruce, never took the time to ever understand California's three strikes law or how it is applied. He just bought into the TV ads paid for by the Prison guards union! He has no idea Three Strikes can come out of one care,or strikes as young as 16 and 17 years of age can be used 20,or 40 years later and decades before three strikes was enacted.It is this ignorance that adds to the growing prison population.
to Heart Broken wrote on Nov 24, 2008 8:47 AM:I can read the frustration and sorrow in your words. I am not a drug user but know persons who are and have witnessed first hand the horrible long lasting effects of Meth and Heroin and alcohol addiction. I think Americans would be surprised as to how many people are really affected by this. If it were up to me, the drug dealers would get as much of a sentence as a 1st or 2nd degree murderer.
It seems that the rehab available isn't working well enough. Something needs to change in the structure and plan of how to help these addicts, who eventually commit the crimes that put them in prison or jail.
Not all inmates should get rehab, there are those who will never change their evil ways and will always be an enemy to the general public, but there are those who can change with help and we cannot just abandon those folks.
Life in prison for a convicted drug dealer.
Rehab for a drug user who commits a non-violent crime.
Rehaballtheway wrote on Nov 24, 2008 9:19 AM:Your right,those of you who say rehabilitation is needed for inmates.It is.Eventually they are going to get out and be citizens in our neighborhoods.If they got out with a better understanding of life rather than the theft and violence that they know maybe they would stay out of trouble and learn to not hang around their "neighbors" who are not good influences.I know from my fiancee that he has been through a lot most people dont understand why he keeps using and getting in trouble and repeating the pattern.If you took a Sociology class you would know and understand.Rehab is needed and I wish everyone would have passed prop 5 but they didnt.O well this will just keep happening with them being released and breaking in houses/cars,using and going back till they get real help.We can all do a part in helping others if you have faith.Having faith makes things possible..not easy...
Really people wrote on Nov 24, 2008 10:15 AM:You guys think rehab is going to work on people who are only in prison because they were finally 'caught'?!
PLEASE! People can only be rehabilitate when they WANT to. The motivation comes from within. Expect something more (or better) and you'll move toward that goal. Part of the criminal mentality is that we've taught our young people to expect more - for less. They don't want to work hard. They don't want to be responsible or reliable. Crime is fast and easy and to them worth the risk.
In the mean time, criminals need to accept their punishment. The statements above only show that repeat offenders are just that. Those sent back to prison have broken the law AGAIN, so obviously are NOT law-abiding citizens.
Vocational skills are the best 'pill' for this problem. Give them a skill that provides an employment opportunity AND gives them some pride in themselves. Hopefully the rest of the good life will follow (if they work hard for it = if they really want it). That's where we should invest. Prison drug rehab is a waste.
No wonder wrote on Nov 24, 2008 11:52 AM:They get out with $200. No place to live other than where they were when they got arrested. This puts them back in the same environment they left. Parole Officers have no money to help them, no ideas on anywhere to get a job. Companies won't hire, the state does nothing to incent companies to hire so what does society expect. They have to eat and sleep somewhere. Of course the powerful Prison Guard Union loves this as the parolees keep job security for the union and guards.
Correct me if I am wrong... wrote on Nov 24, 2008 12:56 PM:how is prison drug rehab. going to work when they can still get the drugs in prison?!! I voted against Prop. 5 with darn good reason. I was raised in a two parent family and was instilled with good morals. When my life hit hard times I didn't resort to drinking or drugs. I work full-time and don't feel I should have to continue to pay for people whom have no regard for my life or anyone elses!!!
buchanan wrote on Nov 24, 2008 1:33 PM:Newflash---Not all prisoners are gang members. Something the media doesn't report.
Prisons---create Gangs
Prisons---promote Gangs
Runner--author of Jessica's Law. Made a career off the suffering of others. Promotes tough, although redicious, sentences and punishments.
Runner---bold face liar. fear mongering, hate promoting politician.
Why is he being interviewed for this article?
Runner---is the problem, certainly not a solution. HE IS THE REASON, "California is the only state that sends more people to prison than court"
workforpeace wrote on Nov 24, 2008 4:35 PM:We would save $millions if inmates received vocational training and support when transitioning from prison. I hope Grump, Roger, and Bruce will education himself on prison issues. Like a good many in the general public, he does not seem to be aware of what it is costing to live in the "state of higher incarceration".
Runner and other politician’s used tough-on-crime to get elected. That turned dumb-on-crime and is ruining salvageable lives and families and costing us way too much money.
The couple I know whose son was sent back to prison for the no-victim, minor parole infraction of being out after curfew could have been punished by having to pick up trash or in some other way that would not cost him his job and possibly his life. Instead of him paying taxes, it will cost us nearly $100K to warehouse him for two more years.
Let's provide vocation training, rehab, and reasonable length sentences. Let's fix the parole system, and stop using prison time in place of mental hospitals. It is just common sense.
buckminster wrote on Nov 24, 2008 9:14 PM:The parole system does exactly what it was intended to do: to provide a guaranteed demand for services of the law enforcement - judicial - prison industrial complex.
Parolees are obviously setup to fail. That's what they are SUPPOSED to do. That's the role they play in sustaining that bureaucracy.
Sorry wrote on Nov 25, 2008 10:19 AM:breaking the law once being charged with a felony and paying your dues...fine. I can accept that. Breaking the law with 2 more felonies then you should do all the time in the world. Let' face it, we give repeated offenders too many chances. How many times to hear a drunk driver who's had several DUI's kill someone. Law's are law's, break them do the time. There should be no pity party for those who can't figure life out.
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