Schwarzenegger to request delay in lowering prison population [Updated]

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger today will ask a panel of federal judges to put on hold their order that the state reduce prison overcrowding, according to the governor’s spokesman, Aaron McLear.

[Updated at 2:20 p.m.: Schwarzenegger has formally requested the stay.]

The judges, overseeing two inmate lawsuits, ordered the state on Aug. 4 to come up with a plan by Sept. 18 to reduce the number of inmates in state prisons by 40,000 over two years.

The state plans to file an appeal of the ruling to the U.S. Supreme Court by Thursday.

If the judges decline to grant a stay, the administration will go to the Supreme Court on Friday and request a delay of the order, McLear said.

-- Michael Rothfeld in Sacramento

Photo: On Aug. 19, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, along with acting warden Aref Fakhoury, left, and California Corrections Secretary Matthew Cate, center, tour a debris-strewn residential hall at the California Institution for Men in Chino, where prisoners rioted earlier in the month. Credit: Bob Chamberlin / Los Angeles Times

Comments

[Roga]

Here's an idea: how about releasing all the non-violent drug offenders? If we did that, we would have a few empty jails. Maybe we could make public housing out of them for all the people who can't find a job in this over-regulated, sorry excuse for a state.

[S.D. Urquart]

Arnold and the rest of the State Government has had years to take care of this problem. He is just delaying! If he just let out non-violent drug offenders and technical parole violators, the problem would be over and he could divert some of this wasted money that the CDC uses every year to the Fire Department. Arnold only cares about one thing, and that is that he does not, under any circumstances want to be in office when they open the dors.

[James Snyder]

Either be humane to sending a guy to prison or if he is deemed unrehabilitatable-then euthanasia, throw a big party for his/her family (in a fenced setting, of course)popcorn and a shot of heroin for the deceasee. You see when we give a big red flag "Felon" that everyone can read there goes the jobs thing and presents a (worse) repeat offender. Teach them and love them in prison, let them get out without a record, and if they screw up substantively again--see above popcorn and heroin parting shoe.

[RB]

Sorry Roga,
All of the conservatives that forced the state to cut 25 billion in cuts DO like to pay top dollar to incarcerate.

[Christine Leisher]

The inmates that would be released (especially nonviolent drug offenders and parole violators) would be SO LESS DANGEROUS than our state Legislature!

But seriously, law enforcement and the media gives some inmates such a bad rap (they lump all "felons" together). If anyone understood how so many of the charges get trumped up to make these guys look worse than they are, then the fear of them being released would be alleviated.

Concentrate of leaving the really bad guys in prison, but let some of the other people out to try to make a life for themselves.

[demc]

more loop hole yearssss and yearsss of all loop holess

[chante]

I believe that this prisoner need to get let out and get rehabilitation from the street there need to be more jobs created for felony and ex felony.
This situtation is taking up all the money from college student and k-12.
let this people go and put them to work they need to get a taste of how it fell to have responsibilties with that you dont have anything.
all inmate need a second chance we get second and third chances everyday.

[Bob Johnson]

There are no non-violent drug offenders. Come up with your next pathetic excuse for worrying about the incarcerated scum in prisons.

[chantel]

what is the purpose of having lower and non transgress offender behind bars.
I think that it will be less money spend in the economy for housing prisoner.

I believe that alot of prison have false advertising how can you call a prison rehabilitation center and they dont get the rehabilitation.
i believe if the inmate where getting the service that they have provide there would be many get out and get jobs and there would be less going back.

[Tara]

Thousands of parolees out on the street violate their probations--sometimes within days of being released--and re-offend. Garrido, the sub-human who kidnapped the girl 17 years ago was declared a "sexual deviant" in 1976!

[hadillin]

u guys do know that the state gets payed for every prisoner that it houses ,the non violent are easier to maintain they also get payed to transport prisoners from jail to court jail to jail so they use the non violent ones to fill the buses if u ever been to jail for trafic tickets you get to spend the days going around to courts where u have no buisness.thats so they can bill for u.

[Rev. B. Cayenne Bird]

There is a death toll that is flying under the radar of the media. The judges must say no to the callous TERMINATOR. There has been plenty of time to obey 77 ignored judicial orders. Last year more than 125,000 inmates were released. Crime didn't rise. Here is a partial list of recent deaths.
1 Nexter Sedillo was found dead Aug 5, allegedly killed by cellmate
2. Albert Cecil Howard, age 57, Aug 14
3. John Linley Frazier hanged himself in prison Aug 19
4. Jonathan Michael Nelson, tasered to death. July 31, Riverside County jail
6. Manuel Dante Dent, Stanislaus jail
Robert Mobley, 68 yr old EOP (mentally ill man, beaten to death) at Lancaster
6. 48-year-old Greg Alan Thomas, beaten to death, possibly by guard(s), CSP Lancaster
7. Man dies after being Tasered at North Hollywood subway station
9. Man dies at Pleasant Valley State Prison, media can't get his name. 75 inmates rioted.
10. Evan Broderick, Agd 2 died from multiple stab wounds at CCI Techachapi
11. 1 dead, at least 16 injured at Kern Valley S.P. in riot
12. 175 injured in Chino riot Aug 8
13. Elderly man died on A yard at Mule Creek yesterday.8/31

Extend the deadline? The answer must be NO, NO, NO. This isn't all the deaths.

[Bob]

Ahhh, the Governator's solution. Don't do anything and hope it goes away.

[Don]

This just in... Federal judges order the State of California to provide 52" Samsung LCD big screen televisions for each and every inmate by 2012.

[concerned mother]

You can't have it both ways, Arnold. You won't let the prisoners out, but you want to stop the debt rising....We, the people of California, want education for our youngsters. California is spending more for prisons than we do for higher education.

No More Delays..... Do the Right Thing.... Spend the Taxpayers' money on Constructive things, not prisons. If the Feds say decrease the prison population, DO IT. NOW.

Prisons make Californians the laughing-stock of the rest of the nation. Our Universities used to make us the envy of the rest of the nation.

[nora weber]

They need inmates to fight the fires. I'm going to court.

Mark Grangetto a prisoner's request for a Writ of Mandate under Assembly Bill 1539 "The Extended Compassionate Release": is scheduled for a Court hearing.

The hearing is set for September 4, 2009 at 1:30 p.m. in Department 19 of the Sacramento Superior Court.

The attorney, Ken Karan will be present, along with the mother of the inmate, Nora Weber, for the news media to speak to immediately following the Court hearing.

For those who want to attend you are more than welcomed. I believe this Court hearing will establish a Court decision regarding a recall of sentence for a disabled prisoner, and a Court decision associated with the responsibility, as spelled out in the Assembly Bill, that the CDCR must abide by.

This will be a real test if the State really wants to release a prisoner or if they will fight tooth and nail to keep even disabled prisoners, when the families, such as myself, are willing and able to take care of the disabled prisoner.

You can spread this news far and wide for anyone who wants to attend this hearing. I look forward to seeing you in Court.

[Pray4Peace]

If not now, when?

What passed cannot be called prison reform. We need to actually fix the criminal justice system by implementing smart-on-crime policies that will do more than release some ex-offenders.

BTW, I appreciate the inmates working in a nearby fire camp. They helped save my house. Unfortunately, with the horrific overcrowding, most inmates cannot get jobs in prison. We all need to work and they want whatever job they can get, even if it means cleaning toilets.

[berkeleygal]

Victims are victims, be it a citizen on the outside or an inmate on the inside of prison. Think about this: do we investigate every victim's past to determine if they qualify to be classified as "victim?" NO. So it's time to also recognize all the victims of the CDCr. It is time for our state to accept responsibility for all the unnecessary deaths inside our prisons. Schwartzenegger, please stop this mess, please stop wasting tax dollars. Please heed the judges' order now.

[berkeleygal]

I have a recommendation for Governor Schwartzenegger: Please take away the C.O.'s power to extend inmates' release dates. There is a conflict of interest present. How can the employees whose job security depends on mass incarceration, how can these employees get to play prosecutor, investigator, judge, jury, executioner? Many CO's abuse their power to write 115's (some can extend release dates by half a year!!)? Many write bogus 115's for petty violations and/or false allegations, which counteracts the state's efforts at reducing the prison population!!

[Rev. B. Cayenne Bird]

They put the non violent prisoners in the gyms. The three bozos in the picture above caused and allowed the conditions that led to the riot and about 14 other deaths THAT WE KNOW ABOUT in the last few weeks. They have no vision. They have no conscience. And anything that they have to say needs to be ignored and the prisoners released. Last year, more than 125,000 prisoners were released and the crime rate didn't rise. Prisons aren't working. Hold the Republicans accountable for creating our humanitarian and fiscal crisis. Let them go, what is happening is wrong, it is far more criminal than what most of the inmates were incarcerated over.

[berkeleygal]

I would like to send a message to the politicians and public:
CDCR officials seem to be starting an effort to counteract the government's efforts to reduce the prison population!! Beware of CDCR staff extending inmates' release dates for any petty reason via their write-ups. Petty offenses includes owning items which were permitted, yet suddenly are deemed to be "contraband," refusing to double-cell with incompatible inmates in 24-hour lockdown units, etc. BEWARE. If an inmate you know is the subject of such vengeful practices, report this to the media and politicians!!

[Justice Watchdog]

This is all that the state knows how to do is try to find any minor excuse to delay on every decision they need to make. The state is delaying while female inmates are getting raped by prison guards, inmates are dying every single day this is delayed. Where is the outrage? These are human people that are living in hellish conditions. The state heads have known about this for decades and choose to look the other way. NO MORE DELAYS! The Federal Judges have to step in and release inmates, the states plan will never work with so much politics at play. Playing with human lives!

[annie hall]

SCHWAZENEGGER SOUNDS LIKE A DAMN FOOL. WHAT IS HE WAITING FOR AND APPEALING CALIFORNIA IS IN A COMPLETE CRISIS. OUR SCHOOLS BUDGETS HAVE BEEN CUT, MANY STATE AND COUNTY EMPLOYEES HAVE TAKEN CUTS. NOW IT IS TIME FOR THE UGLY, MISMANAGED, AND CORRUPT PRISON SYSTEMS IN CALIFORNIA THAT HAVE STOLEN BILLIONS AND BILLIONS OF DOLLARS FROM NEEDY TAX PAYERS TO SQUANDER OUR MONEY ON SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS TO PAY THE PIPER. WE PAY FIFTY THOUSAND DOLLARS OF YEAR TO KEEP SOMEONE IN PRISON FOR SELLING FIVE ROCKS OF CRACK. WHILE THE BIG DRUG DEALERS THAT BRING N THOUSANDS OF POUNDS OF DRUGS A YEAR NEVER DO ONE DAYS TIME IN PRISON. TAX PAYERS DO NOT CARE ABOUT PETY DRUG DEALERS, AND CRACKHEADS THEY WANT THE CRIMINALS THAT ARE BRING THESE DRUGS INTO THIS COUNTRY. WE WANT THE BIG CHEESE AND WE WANT THEM NOW. THE MAJORITY OF IMATES ARE SIMPLY VICTIMS OF THE SPECIAL INTEREST GROUP. THESE PRISON GUARDS CAN EASILY BRING IN $100 GRAND A YEAR. THESE CROOKED AND CORRUPT COPS THAT FALSIFY POLICE REPORTS, AND PERJURE THEMSELVE ON THE WITNESS STANDS , CROOKED PROSECUTORS AND JUDGES SHOULD ALL BE PLACED BEHIND BARS FOR LIFE. THEY SHOULD NEVER SEE THE LIGHT OF DAY AGAIN. THEY SHOULD ALL BE TREATED LIKE MADOFF, BECAUE THEY ARE ABUSING THE PRISONERS AND STEALING THEY TAX PAYERS DOLLARS. THEY FIGURED THAT THE TAX PAYERS WOULD NEVER GET A WIND OF WHAT IS REALLY HAPPENING. WE SEE THE VERY POLICIANS THAT WE HAVE VOTED FOR SELL US OUT!

[witness to the madness]

Look at case 8CA10541 in the criminal courts building on Temple and you will see what they are doing with your tax dollars.
Arnolds has elected many corrupt judges and this city is sinking

[sol]

Investigate Tig Notaro and you will come up with a story of a lifetime.