California has over 160,000 prisoners, with 120,000 expected to return to their communitiesand a recidivism rate of over 70 percent. Jeanne Woodford finds these numbers troubling, and wants the California legislature to put partisan politics aside and work together to fix this ever- growing problem. As the former director of the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, as the former warden of San Quentin, Woodford Woodford has an insider’s knowledge of what works and what doesn’t in the correctional system.
In a Viewpoints article in the Sacramento Bee Woodford commended the state legislature for coming together in an attempt to cut waste, while improving public safety. Both the Republican governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger, and Democratic state senators devised plans that would decrease the prison population by providing alternatives to incarceration for non-violent, low-level offenders. But more has to be done, according to Woodford. While both Republicans and Democrats support “realignment,“ the process of using prison cells for those who commit serious crimes The two parties also agree on obtaining accountability for those who are held locally. The problem arises in where the money will be found for implementation of the plan. Democrats seek to raise revenue through taxes, while Republicans call for cuts, not new taxes. The Governor’s plan would allocate counties $11,000 for each prisoner that is kept at county level. The Democrats believe that paying the counties $24,000 per inmate is a more realistic figure. The disagreement on an appropriate figure has stalled the program.
Woodford is frustrated because every time a county keeps a prisoner, the state saves $50,000. She asks that both sides come up with a figure between $11,000 and $24,000, and come up with it quickly. Counties, Woodford states, should have a say in how much money they need to make realignment successful. Factors such as how many inmates stay in a county, are put on probation, go to jail or need special services will determine how much should be budgeted for realignment.. Woodford reports that each year thousands of people are sentenced to prison for three months or less for minor crimes or parole violations. Woodford asserts that spending money to incarcerate these offenders is a huge waste of money as each offender must be transported, classified, examined for medical or mental issues, fed and housed. Realignment is more cost-effective for the state, and Woodford implores both Republicans and Democrats to negotiate a figure that both parties can agree on. Eliminating waste in the correctional system, declares Woodford, must be a top priority of both political parties.
|
|
|
|
