CRITICS ASSAIL GOVERNOR'S PLAN TO BEGIN PRISONER TRANSFER

The moves begin in 60 to 90 days. Guards fear inmates will respond by rioting.

The state will begin shipping thousands of inmates to out-of-state
prisons against their will over the next 60 to 90 days under a $50
million measure to reduce prison crowding that already faces
challenges, the governor said Friday.

Corrections leaders said they will begin transferring as many as 5,000
inmates to private prisons in Mississippi, Arizona and Oklahoma.
Corrections officials plan to start by targeting undocumented inmates
facing deportation upon release.

Unions predict the plan will incite widespread violence throughout the
prison system. Two unions, representing 44,000 prison officers and
staff members, have sued to block the transfers. During a special
session in August to address the crowding, the Democratic Legislature
killed the same proposal amid concerns that it violated state law and
inmates' rights.

The forced transfers could affect inmates in four Inland prisons:
Ironwood State Prison and Chuckawalla Valley State Prison in Blythe,
California Institution for Men in Chino and California Institute for
Women in Norco. The transfers would not include prisoners with serious
mental health or medical needs, death row inmates, those serving life
terms, or maximum- and minimum-security inmates. Mainly
medium-security inmates slated for deportation would be tapped for the
move.

Gov. Schwarzenegger issued an emergency proclamation in October
allowing the state to get around a law that prohibits such transfers.
Since then, the state has attempted, with little success, to lure
inmates to out-of-state prisons by choice. So far, only 380 have gone
voluntarily to Tennessee and Arizona.

Officials believe few signed up because some inmates expect to be
released under a possible court order on overcrowding and because
prison gangs discouraged their members in order not to lose power,
said Assemblyman Todd Spitzer, R-Orange, the Assembly GOP caucus's
point man on prison issues. Story continues below AP photo
Three-tiered bunk beds highlight the crowded conditions at California
State Prison in Los Angeles. Across the state, about 16,000 prisoners
sleep in triple bunks, gymnasiums and dayrooms. Prison officials say
the state could run out of beds in August. Moving some prisoners out
of state would buy the corrections department another 10 months,
officials estimate.

There are about 174,000 inmates in California's 33 prisons, which were
designed to hold about 100,000 inmates. Roughly 16,000 prisoners sleep
in triple bunks, gymnasiums and dayrooms, said Bill Sessa, spokesman
for the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.

"Our big goal is not to run out of beds," Sessa said. "If that
happens, we'll end up overrunning the local jails because, by law, if
we run out of room, the jails have to house our inmates."

County jails around the state have already begun releasing inmates
convicted of misdemeanors to make room for the more serious offenders,
he said.

Limit on Inmates Sought

A November lawsuit on behalf of inmates seeks to force the state to
cap the inmate population at 111,000 to 138,000, alleging the crowding
leads to cruel conditions.

The state could run out of beds by August, predicted James E. Tilton,
the department secretary. The transfers would buy California 10 more
months before that happens, he said.

The corrections department contracted with two private prison firms to
spend about $50 million to house California prisoners over five years.
The companies, the Geo Group and Corrections Corporation of America,
operate prisons in Oklahoma, Mississippi, Tennessee and Arizona. It
will cost the state $63 a day to house inmates out of state compared
with $123 a day in California, said Sessa.

Safety Cited, Too

More than the cost savings, the move will improve safety for the
inmates, the staff and the public by reducing the crowding and the
violence that can come with it, he added.

Opponents of the plan disagree.

The government is spending millions for sweetheart contracts with
private executives, charged Lance Corcoran, spokesman for the
California Peace Officer's Association.

"Just because an inmate is subject to deportation, it doesn't mean he
doesn't have family connections," Corcoran said. "If they are deprived
of those visits, it may spur them to act violently. We are concerned
about the safety to the staff and the risk to the public as well as
the inmates if there is some sort of major uprising because of this."

Attorneys for the union will argue their case in Sacramento Superior
Court later this month. Locally, officers worry that inmates will riot
or assault staff in order to avoid transfer, said Joe Bauman, an
officer at the California Rehabilitation Center in Norco.

'Disaster in the Making'

"They know all they have to do is assault staff, and then they won't
be eligible," he said. "This is a disaster in the making."

However, Schwarzenegger said he had no choice but to order involuntary
transfers.

"The safety of our correctional officers is threatened, we have the
highest recidivism rate in the country because there is no room for
rehabilitation, and we face the possibility of court-ordered early
release of felons," he said in a statement.

Republican lawmakers praised the administration's announcement.

"Hallelujah," Spitzer said, adding that he thinks the state's actions
will withstand a court challenge because the involuntary transfers
will target illegal immigrants.

"They have no rights on where they do their time," he
said.

State Sen. Majority Leader Gloria Romero, D-Los Angeles, called the
governor's order outrageous. It's unconstitutional, and the courts
will probably overturn it, she said.

"This directive today is akin to the governor running up a big, white
flag and telling the rest of the nation that California just can't do
it," Romero said.

Behind Bars

Approximate number of inmates in California's 33 prisons: 174,000

Maximum number the prisons are designed to hold: 100,000

Number of prisoners who have volunteered to be moved out of
state: 380