TAKING A HARD LOOK AT STATE'S JAMMED JAILS

One might have imagined that with a Democratic majority in both houses and a
Democratic governor, and with prisons filled to the bursting point with some
people who have little or no business being there, that the state
Legislature would be full of bills seeking to reform the prison and criminal
justice system in a relatively liberal direction. Instead it's a mixed bag -
and some of the legislation that in the past might have been viewed as
"liberal" is being carried by conservative Republicans.

For example, Republican Assemblyman Scott Baugh of Huntington Beach has
introduced a bill (AB 1247) to carry out a cost-benefit study of
California's "three strikes" law that is similar to bill (SB 873) introduced
by liberal Democratic state Sen. John Vasconcellos of San Jose.

Republican Assemblyman Tom McClintock of Thousand Oaks has co-authored a
bill, AB 1440, (along with Democrats Carol Migden, John Burton, Richard
Polanco and John Vasconcellos) that would require the Department of
Corrections to institute a more liberal policy regarding interviews of
prisoners by members of the media - in response to a restrictive policy put
in place by former Attorney Gen. Dan Lungren and reaffirmed by the Davis
administration.

Scott Baugh, of course, has experienced the "business end of government"
during his unwarranted criminal prosecution for minor campaign violations,
which should have been investigated by the state Fair Political Practices
Commission. He told us Friday that he thinks the way is open to study the
"three-strikes" law but the Legislature isn't ready to revise it seriously.
Democratic state Sen. Tom Hayden's proposal (SB 79) to apply the
"three-strikes" provision only to serious and violent felonies rather than
enhancing sentences for non-violent felonies such as drug offenses, while a
worthy idea, probably has little chance of passage this year.

Widely publicized allegations of brutality and abuse of prisoners by prison
guards at Corcoran State Prison near Bakersfield (and in other institutions)
has spawned SB 12 by Bay-area Republican Sen. Richard Rainey to require and
pay for more training for correctional officers. It might help a little but
the old syndrome on government programs - if they're succeeding they need
more money and if they're failing they need even more money - may be at work
here. When government employees make mistakes it always seems to be the
taxpayers who get the bills.

Several bills (AB 3, AB 34, AB 54) would extend the death penalty to more
offenses. One silly proposal would end TV and conjugal visits for state
prisoners. Two bills (AB 741, SB 786) would limit the use of habeas corpus
rights by prisoners.

Orange County legislators should view all these proposals in context. Over
the past dozen years the number of Americans in jails and prisons has
doubled, and California has led the way with the strictest "three strikes"
law in the country and a huge boom in prison construction. The rapid growth
in California's prison problem has contributed to lax management and
"growing pains" problems that are a factor in abuse by prison personnel.

It is time for Californians to take a step back from the urge to
incarcerate, take a look at the ongoing and projected costs of locking up so
many people for non-violent and victimless crimes, and think about moving in
the other direction. The evidence that throwing more people in jail really
reduces crime is shaky at best, non-existent at worst - and the cost to
taxpayers continues to spiral.

It's time to think about ways to reduce the prison population rather than
working to increase it.