Yesterday, the California Senate Democrats passed Assembly Bill 14xxx with the intent to reform California’s prison system and save $1.2 billion along the way. While these are good intentions, what this dangerous measure really does is empower felons while risking the safety of California citizens.
Elements of the bill include releasing inmates early from prison through a variety of different means including good time credits for just sitting in a prison cell; rewarding thieves for stealing vehicles valued under $2,500; and creating a public safety commission that would require membership of a felon.
Early release is not the answer and it’s doubtful that it will lead to real savings. First of all, what kind of message are we sending to criminals when the Legislature approves early release of felons before they have served their time?
Second, Republicans have recommended finding other ways to slash $1.2 billion in the prison budget, such as closing down three of the seven Youth Authority facilities. The fact is, California has greatly reduced its Youth Authority population by 70 percent in the past decade yet the budget for that corrections department has not decreased. To put it another way, California spends more than $300,000 per juvenile ward when just 10 years ago we spent $48,000 for each ward.
Republicans have also suggested providing inmates with health care services closer to what the average hard-working Californian receives. As it is, taxpayers spend $17,000 per inmate for health care. You would be hard pressed to find an average law-abiding person who has such gold plated health care.
Therefore, before we release prisoners early let’s take a realistic look at where the money for prisons is going. And while we’re at it, let’s get realistic about the California’s prison crowding.
While I agree prisoners should not be housed in gymnasiums and hallways, the fact of the matter is housing two inmates per cell does not equal crowding. What’s wrong with convicted felons sharing a cell? I doubt the average Californian stays up at night worried about whether or not prisoners have private suites in our state prisons.
AB 14xxx also slaps poor people in the face by reducing the penalty for vehicular theft when a stolen car is valued under $2,500. This means poor neighborhoods will be targeted by thieves who don’t want to risk earning a felony charge. As it is, underprivileged neighborhoods already suffer from disproportionate crime rates and the Democrats have just proposed to make the situation worse.
One of the most egregious elements of the bill is the creation of the California Public Safety Commission. Sure it sounds innocent enough, but what it does is give non-elected, unaccountable people the power to set policy concerning public safety issues, such as criminal sentencing, an authority that is usually reserved for elected officials who are empowered by voters.
But that’s not all; the Commission would include membership by a felon appointed by the Speaker of the Assembly. Yes, you read that right. A felon!
This is an insult to law-abiding citizens, particularly crime victims.
As I said on the Senate floor yesterday, allowing a felon to sit on a public safety commission sounds like a satire out of Mad Magazine. Unfortunately it’s a real proposal, which means one of the commissioners could potentially be someone like Lynette “Squeaky” Fromme, the recently released felon who attempted to assassinate President Ford and an avid follower of Charles Manson.
Fortunately, this bill has yet to pass in the Assembly. But if it does it will be a detriment to California’s law-abiding citizens, and a benefit to criminals. That’s why it’s no surprise that not one single law enforcement agency supports this measure – a fact that should bother my Democrat colleagues.
I can assure you that the Democrats will not have the last word on this measure, the people of California will, through the power of the referendum on the 2010 ballot.