Gang intimidation threatens Schwarzenegger's prison plan

[Kadie]

Gang intimidation threatens Schwarzenegger's prison plan
Few inmates volunteer to move to other states
Mark Martin, Chronicle Sacramento Bureau

Friday, December 22, 2006


(12-22) 16:55 PST Sacramento -- Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's plan to ship thousands of California inmates to prisons in other states to reduce overcrowding is faltering because few prisoners - some intimidated by powerful gangs -- have volunteered to move.

Well entrenched prison gangs worried about losing numbers, and control, have ordered inmates not to cooperate with corrections officials looking for volunteers to go to prisons in states like Tennessee and Arizona, according to sources familiar with the prison system.

Rumors are also spreading throughout the state's 33 prisons that federal judges are poised to take over the jam-packed system and release thousands of inmates, leaving many unwilling to ship out now and potentially miss out on going free.

The shortage of volunteers threatens the only short-term proposal the administration has come up with to handle overcrowding so severe that the system is on the verge of running out of room. It may lead to corrections officials forcing unwilling inmates to leave the state, something that would likely draw lawsuits and potentially spark violence.

snip...
With nearly 173,000 inmates crammed into a system designed to hold about 100,000, Schwarzenegger in October declared a state of emergency as he acknowledged that overcrowding was at dangerous levels. More than 16,000 inmates are sleeping on bunk beds in dayrooms and other areas not intended as living quarters, and secretary of corrections Jim Tilton has predicted even those spaces will be filled by next summer.

more...
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/12/22/BAG9ON2INC21.DTL

[Higans]

1. I got one more for you Arnold...

[Howardx]

2. man! that is creepy!

n/t

[BleedingHeartPatriot]

3. Release the pot offenders, Ahnold. That might at least give you some wiggle room.

MKJ

[Der Blaue Engel]

4. No-brainer, Arnie

Release prisoners wrongly imprisoned by the insane "War on Drugs."

That'll free up a huge number of cells.

[pinto]

5. Bad situation all around. Even at CMC, seen as a "retirement" prison among

some inmates (It's also a Dept. of Corr. medical facility & has a large elderly, disabled population) the lines are pretty clearly drawn on the yards.

One small step, imho, is to stop sending non-violent drug offenders to the state prison system. Put the money into localized residential/outpatient drug programs as appropriate, beef up the Transitional Case Management programs (pre and post release follow up for physically and mentally ill inmates) and establish better liaison with County courts/jails/probation beyond the basic "remand to CDC" process in place now.

It's an enormous mess, socially, financially, and politically.

California can do better.