A controversial bill that California legislators say would allow the early release of more than 27,000 inmates from crowded prisons will be taken up by the state Assembly on Monday.
The Senate on Thursday passed the corrections package 21-19, after Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg, D-Sacramento, assured senators the changes would protect the public from the most violent offenders.
The main reason this bill is being considered is because California faces a mid-September deadline for reducing its prison population by about 40,000 inmates.
A special panel of three federal judges issued the order, after finding that the crowded prison system in California violates prisoners’ constitutional rights. The judges went so far as to say that they would make the reductions themselves if the state fails to act.
Before we begin to believe that California is really concerned about the rights of the prisoners in their state, we should also understand that this reduction of prisoners would SAVE the financially strapped state almost $525 million. Surely that is their real motivation.
One of the biggest problems in the criminal justice system in the United States is that it does not distinguish between violent and non-violent offenders. Undoubtedly, there are non-violent offenders that should benefit from shorter prison sentences and not jeopardize public safety. However, the bill may give early release to felons that are convicted of human trafficking, stalking, identity theft, violent child abuse and threatening to use a weapon of mass destruction. We’ll keep you posted as this develops.
3 Comments
I think this is a good idea because they have bigger fiish to fry and they should iimpose this law in all states. Not only should it be for non violent offenders but for people convicted of minor drug offenses too. Because my son’s father recieved 9 yrs for a technical violation while in Delaware’s work release program. He didn’t even pick up a new charge while he was in there. I was 7 months pregnant with our son when he got this 9 yr sentence. If anyone reading this can help me find out if what they gave him for a technical violation was legal than please please hit me up on yahoo at takiajohnson81@yahoo.com because my son doesn’t deserve to grow up without a father if his father if his father didn’t do nothing wrong. He deserves to have a father period.
Oh i forgot to say we have enough children growing up in america without fathhers and when our children don’t have fathers that’s when they become troubled youth and teens so we also need to think about our children because they are our future remember?
Are inmate location services by law suppose to be free and it is just the records that cost money even if it is a copy charge?