Pubdate: Mon, 24 Aug 2009 Source: San Jose Mercury News (CA) Copyright: 2009 San Jose Mercury News Contact: http://www.mercurynews.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/390 IT'S TIME TO START GETTING SMART ON CRIME California is obsessed with being tough on crime. It's time to start getting smart on crime. Lawmakers can do that today by approving Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's plan to trim the state's prison population by 37,000 inmates over the next two years, saving taxpayers $1.2 billion. The Senate is on board. The Assembly needs to concur. California is facing financial ruin. Its schools are making devastating cuts that could put a whole generation of children at a competitive disadvantage "" and at higher risk of turning to crime. Yet it spends 10 percent of its general fund on prisons, about the same amount as on higher education but still not nearly enough to adequately house its 167,000 prisoners. That would take billions more. Two weeks ago a panel of federal judges ordered the state to slash the inmate population by about one-quarter within two years, or the judges would do it for us. California, which has one of the highest incarceration rates in the world, houses inmates in conditions the courts have ruled cruel and unusual punishment. The recent 12-hour riot at the Chino prison illustrates the problem. It houses 5,900 inmates in a facility designed for 3,000. The court ruling will be a gift if it returns the state to a sane approach to crime. Republican lawmakers pretend there is a reasonable alternative to the governor's plan, but there is not. They're scared to death of being labeled "soft on crime," and Advertisement Quantcast they're threatening to pin that label on Democrats who vote for the legislation. A handful of Democrats are cowering at the prospect. They need to grow a backbone and do the right thing, even if the Republicans will not. Anybody who votes against this plan should be labeled soft in the head. Prisoners are going to be released. It's far better for state officials to control how it's done rather than leave it to the judges, who are farther removed from local communities. The place to start is the system's recidivism rate, one of the highest in the nation. Thousands of California prisoners are locked up at a cost of $27,000 each per year for technical violations, such as missing an appointment with a parole officer, not for committing new crimes. That's running up the public's bill without making anyone safer. The idea of putting GPS bracelets on thousands of non-violent prisoners also would save the state millions and keep the convicts from committing additional crimes that would land them in county jails, which are already overflowing. Local law enforcement officials are concerned about aspects of the governor's plan, especially as it might affect local costs, since the state is already raiding local government revenue. Republicans and Democrats should be working together to address those concerns. But the plan on the table is prudent, given the state's financial predicament. There is no magical way for California to keep locking up more and more of its residents without paying the price to house them. Does anyone really want to further cut schools, or human services, to open more prisons? Lawmakers can blame the courts for having to make tough choices this week. But they ought to be thanking them. - --- MAP posted-by: Richard Lake