Read the Press Release
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
June 24, 2010
Contact: LaWanda
Johnson, ljohnson@justicepolicy.org, (202) 558-7974
x308
Adam Ratliff,
aratliff@justicepolicy.org, (202) 558-7974 x306
California’s
Prison
Reduction
Plan
Will
Overburden
Counties; Misses the Mark
Shifting prison
population to jails will increase costs and
incarceration rates
WASHINGTON DC – The Justice Policy
Institute (JPI) released a fact sheet today laying out reasons why the
proposed California Community Corrections Act of 2010 is misguided and
deeply flawed. The bill would move people serving sentences of less
than three years from state prisons to already crowded county jails,
shifting the costs to local counties that are already facing budget
shortfalls. The grant funding available to counties for this move would
not cover the costs of increased incarceration, but may create
incentives for counties to incarcerate more people rather than to
utilize alternatives to incarceration, like probation, since funding is
based on the number of people held for the state.
JPI’s fact sheet, Shifting the Problem, notes that,
on the heels of a recent court order to reduce the number of people in
prison by 40,000, the state is moving in the right direction by
examining different ways to reduce its prison population. This proposed
legislation, however, would do more harm than good, and is not a
solution to the continuing problem of over-incarceration in California;
the state’s prison growth even outpaces its population growth.
"California’s prisons and jails are
already beyond capacity; many of those warehoused are people who are
not violent and should be returned to their communities, not moved to
another jurisdiction,” said Tracy Velázquez, executive director
of JPI. “Counties will bear the burden as people are sent to local
jails for years.”
Velázquez added, “The current
budget situation calls for smart fiscal choices; the state would be
wiser to invest in more cost-effective alternatives to incarceration
that support people in their communities.”
The fact sheet calls for increasing
access
to parole, including medical parole for those with physical or mental
health conditions, improving parole practices so fewer people are
returned to prison and increasing access to treatment.
To read the full fact sheet, Shifting the
Problem, CLICK HERE. For a more information, please visit our website
at www.justicepolicy.org.
The Justice Policy
Institute (JPI) is a Washington, D.C.-based organization dedicated to
reducing society’s use of incarceration and promoting just and
effective social policies.
###
|
HOME 
Browse Research
by Date 
