CALIFORNIA CONVICT RELEASE IS A FAILURE OF LEADERSHIP

Regarding your editorial "The Supreme Court's Prison Break" (May 24):
The court-ordered release of inmates in California is really the
result of a lack of leadership, not a Supreme Court decision. In the
early 1980s a federal judge ordered the release of detainees from New
York City jails for similar reasons of overcrowding. The prisoners
released were, on paper, supposed to be nonviolent. Soon after the
release, one of the freed prisoners committed a heinous crime. Mayor
Ed Koch then gave the order that there were to be no more releases.
From that day on there were none.

The Department of Correction Commissioners Benjamin Ward and Richard
Koehler did what they had to do to satisfy the federal court's
requirement for minimum standards. The Law Department worked to push
the envelope as much as possible. The Department of General Services
built jail beds at an unprecedented rate while the city's Office of
Management and Budget tried to stretch every dollar until George
Washington screamed.

Mayor Koch assigned Deputy Mayor Robert Esnard to oversee the plan. In
a city with some of the most restrictive zoning laws, the Koch
administration adapted, innovated and cut red tape, and prevented any
releases. The city converted two Falkland Island War British troop
ships to inmate housing. It built a floating facility from scratch.
Inmates were housed in custom trailers. Millions were spent on one of
the most advanced medical isolation units ever built, but detainees
were not released.

There is no need for a release of prisoners in California. There is a
need for leadership. It looks like the Governator wasn't, and his
successor isn't, up to Mayor Koch's standard.

Charles Plushnick

Brooklyn, N.Y.