CALIFORNIA'S PRISONS

To the Editor:

Re "California's Prison Population Declines for the First Time in More Than
Two Decades" (news article, July 6): You point to prison alternatives and
the decline in California's crime rate as two factors in the decline in the
inmate population. But the actions of San Francisco's district attorney,
Terence Hallinan, are another important factor.

Mr. Hallinan ran for office in 1993 on the concept that he was going to send
low-level drug offenders and other petty crooks to treatment instead of to
prison. The result was that the number of people sent to prison from San
Francisco dropped from 2,136 in 1993 before Mr. Hallinan arrived to 703 in
1998.

In a state that has relied heavily on imprisonment to address social
problems, a county experimenting with a more rational approach to crime
control may be able to show California a way out of its imprisonment binge.

VINCENT SCHIRALDI
Dir., Justice Policy Institute
Washington, July 6, 2000