CALIFORNIA PRISON MESS DEFIES SOLUTION

When Arnold Schwarzenegger was an action-movie star contemplating a
career in politics as governor of California, it probably didn't cross
his mind that managing a crisis in the nation's largest and most
troubled prison system would be a big part of the job.

But there it is, a toxic stew of public perceptions, self-interested
politics and ideological conflict that is just about to reach the
boiling point.

California has more than 170,000 inmates packed into prisons designed
for little more than half that number, the prisons' health care system
already has been taken over by a federal judge, the
drug-rehabilitation program has been labeled an abject failure and
judges seem to be vying with one another over who will be the first to
seize control.

Federal Judge Thelton Henderson, who already has taken over the health
care portion of the prison system, has issued a new order giving
Schwarzenegger just a few weeks to tell him, in concrete terms, how
the state will reduce overcrowding to an acceptable level within the
next year. If he isn't satisfied, Henderson said, the next step will
be ``determining whether a prisoner release order should be entered.''

Henderson's order, coupled with a local court's order blocking
administration plans to ship some inmates to out-of-state prisons and
the new and highly critical report on the drug-rehab program, spurred
Schwarzenegger to call legislative leaders into his office Thursday
morning. Afterward, the governor told reporters that ``everything is
on the table,'' including the early release of ill and non-violent
inmates, while insisting, ``We will not release any inmates who are a
danger to society.''

``If we don't clean up this mess, the federal courts will do it for
us,'' Schwarzenegger declared, adding, ``Do we want to have the courts
release inmates and micromanage the prisons?''

For months, Schwarzenegger has pleaded with the Legislature to
authorize construction of new prisons, but the proposal has been
stalled for reasons that are not easily divined. Mostly, the
opposition has come from liberals and prisoner-rights groups who
dislike the state's harsh sentencing laws, such as ``three strikes,
you're out,'' and who want change.

This year, in addition to the new prisons, Schwarzenegger has called
for a sentencing commission that would recommend ways to reduce the
prison population, or at least the growth in that population, by
treating non-violent criminals differently. The governor also has
called for more emphasis on rehabilitation to reduce the state's high
rate of recidivism.

Any suggestion that felons should be released, however, draws fire
from conservatives who champion lock-'em-up sentencing laws, which
complicates the politics of prisons even more.

It is, in political terms, a game of chicken with Schwarzenegger
caught in the middle. Liberals believe that as the prison crisis
worsens, it will force the state to start releasing some inmates
and/or modifying its sentencing laws. Conservatives believe it will
force liberals to stop opposing construction of new prisons. And then
there's the very powerful union that represents the prison system's
guards, the California Correctional Peace Officers Association. It and
other unions oppose any steps that reduce the need for unionized state
workers, such as moving inmates to other states.

Henderson's order and the increasing involvement of other federal and
state judges raise the stakes in the game even higher -- essentially
setting an early deadline for doing something concrete -- with the
threat of a judicial takeover looming.

``All of this is why we have to act quickly,'' Schwarzenegger said,
adding that he believes legislative leaders now share his sense of
urgency. ``By having the order, it speeds up the process.''

DAN WALTERS is a Sacramento Bee columnist.