ALTERNATIVES SOUGHT TO CUT PRISON OVERCROWDING

California corrections officials - under pressure
by the federal court to reduce prison overcrowding - should expand
alternatives to incarceration, according to a proposed settlement
agreement announced today to improve conditions in state prisons.

Treatment programs, community service and county jails could be used
as alternatives to state prison, the proposal said.

An outline of the plan was made public by federal court referees who
have been mediating with prisoners' advocates, law enforcement
authorities and state officials in an effort to address the state's
chronic problem of prison overcrowding.

California's 33 prisons, designed for approximately 100,000 inmates,
have been housing closer to 170,000, and federal judges could order
the state to release inmates.

The proposed settlement agreement is the result of federal lawsuits
brought by prisoners who argue that the crowded conditions have
violated their constitutional rights by housing them in a dangerous
and unhealthy environment.

A panel of federal judges appointed a team of court referees last fall
to see if the groups could find a solution to the overcrowding before
proceeding with trial. The next court date is set for May 30.

The proposed settlement calls for a gradual decrease in the prison
population over the next three years, said one of the referees, Los
Angeles attorney Elwood Lui, a former state appeals court judge. "The
idea is to make use of techniques to divert prisoners."

Among the proposed initiatives: placing parole violators in treatment
programs instead of sending them back to prison; having some low-risk
offenders serve their time in county jail or on probation instead of
state lockup; electronic monitoring; and offering inmates who
successfully complete drug treatment, vocational training and
educational programs in state prison credit for good conduct that
could reduce their sentences.

Lui said that under the proposal, violent offenders, such as murderers
and rapists, would not be eligible.

"Public safety would not be impaired," he said.

Don Specter, director of the Prison Law Center, an inmate advocacy
legal practice, said the proposed settlement holds promise.

"It reduces the prison population by reducing crime - putting people
in programs rather than in prison," he said. One of his chief concerns
is that reducing the prison population over three years may not move
fast enough. However, he added, "This will take compromise on both
sides."

Assemblyman Todd Spitzer, R-Orange, who represented state Republican
lawmakers in the negotiations with the referees, said he's pleased
that the proposal takes broad early release and parole reduction
options off the table, and at the same time appears to deal more with
the systemic problems, such as substance abuse, that keep a large part
of the inmate population in the revolving door between incarceration
and freedom.

That said, Spitzer said he isn't ready to endorse the plan until law
enforcement officials have had a chance to weigh in on the details and
make sure that public safety would not be compromised. A series of
briefings is scheduled to begin Tuesday involving prosecutors, police
and probation officers.

A spokeswoman for Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger sounded cautious optimism
that the plan could work.

"We're reviewing this as a potential compromise framework for
resolving the prison overcrowding crisis and as an effective solution
to protecting public safety," said Lisa Page, a spokeswoman for the
governor.