LAWMAKER DEMANDS QUICK OVERHAUL OF CYA

SACRAMENTO - Describing the state's treatment of young offenders as
``barbaric,'' state Sen. Gloria Romero called Tuesday for an immediate
settlement of a lawsuit charging the state with inmate abuse -- and an
end to the draconian conditions described in a series of reports
released this week on the California Youth Authority.

Prison reformers are fighting in court to overhaul the CYA, a network
of 10 facilities that houses the state's most serious and violent
young offenders, ages 12 to 25. Romero, a Rosemead Democrat, wants the
Schwarzenegger administration to overhaul the CYA, rather than paying
attorneys to fight the lawsuit.

``We have a problem, and it's serious -- it's beyond serious -- it's
barbaric,'' Romero said. ``If we cannot rehabilitate the CYA first and
foremost, then forget rehabilitating the lives of the youth.''

It comes as no surprise to state legislators that California puts some
of its youngest prisoners in cages, locks others down for 23 hours a
day and over-medicates youth suspected of having psychiatric problems.
For 20 years, report after report has condemned inhumane conditions
inside the institutions. The state held hearings on the CYA in 2000,
when many of the current problems were revealed.

But little has changed.

Unlike adult prisons, the Youth Authority is charged with providing
treatment and education for inmates. But according to reports written
in response to a lawsuit filed by the non-profit Prison Law Office in
2003, conditions in lock-up are actually pushing young offenders
further into lives of crime, and deepening mental illnesses suffered
by a majority of wards.

In response to the reports, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has called for
a blue ribbon commission.

But flanked by some of the state's most respected juvenile justice
professionals Tuesday, Romero said no more talk, reports or task
forces are needed. She wants the state to make sure inmates receive an
education and health care that meets professional standards. The
institution, she said, needs a massive culture change so that daily
life is no longer disrupted by fights and guards no longer rely on
Mace and isolation to force young inmates into submission. Romero said
the state pays as much as $80,000 per year for each of the more than
4,400 wards at CYA, and is getting nothing in return for the investment.

The CYA's new director, Walter Allen, said his job is ``not to look in
the rear-view mirror,'' and he is already drafting an action plan to
correct the problems. A spokesman for Roderick Hickman, secretary of
the umbrella agency, the Youth and Adult Correctional Agency, said the
state will continue negotiating a settlement with Don Specter of the
Prison Law Office.

Specter insisted that any agreement will have to include a timetable
for reforms and monitoring by outside consultants or the courts. After
25 years of reviewing conditions in adult prisons such as Pelican Bay
and Corcoran, Specter said CYA is unique in the nation.

``I've never seen an institution this out of control, with this much
violence,'' he said. ``It's an organization that's failing and doesn't
know how to correct itself.''

Twenty-one-year-old Christopher Siegle of Walnut Creek spent two years
in CYA, after committing a series of thefts for money to buy drugs.
Recently paroled from a Stockton facility to an unsupervised Oakland
motel, he overdosed within 45 days and held up a local grocery store
with a BB gun. He is now in jail.

His father, Larry Siegle, a supervisor for a security company, said in
an interview this week that there's no excuse for the crimes, and his
son should pay for them. But his time served at CYA was spent doped up
on powerful anti-psychotic medications and sleeping 20 hours per day
- -- the institution's response when Christopher began hallucinating and
hearing voices.

``The effects of his time at CYA were detrimental
to the extent that he did not receive the kinds
of help and support that may have led to
treatment and recovery,'' Siegle said. ``They're
just left there in limbo.''